


Friendly Fire

by justdarusthings



Category: Boondock Saints (Movies), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Brother Feels, Brotherly Bonding, Brothers, Emotional Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Love/Hate, Mentions of past child abuse, Past Child Abuse, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-11
Updated: 2015-11-13
Packaged: 2018-03-30 02:47:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 34,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3920029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justdarusthings/pseuds/justdarusthings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Connor and Murphy are trying to find their brother, who they've never even met, when hey come across a camp full of people. They never thought that amongst those people, they would find a brother, just not the brother they were originally looking for. When Daryl decides to leave his group to go find his brother in Atlanta, they decide to help him. Because no one can make it on their own in this world with dead people walking around, and because that's what family does.</p>
<p>The story starts by following TWD season 1 story line, but trails off in the episode 4 "fever" when Daryl decides to leave the group.</p>
<p>//Currently on a long ass break due to issues with my mental health i have to deal with before i can even think about writing again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Left To Die

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this is my first fic and i'm super nervous about it! My native language is Finnish, so there might be some spelling errors and i apologize for those in advantage.
> 
> I do not own any of the characters you might recognize, i just play with them a little ;)

**Georgia  
Year 1972**

 

_Meredith was standing in a phone booth, staring at the phone. In one hand she was holding an ultrasound picture and in an other a newspaper with a headline about a serial killer captured and imprisoned in Boston._

_She glanced at the playground close by, and saw a nine year old boy in the swing set. She smiled a little and looked at the headline again. She tried to imagine two possible scenarios. One where her child had a father, a shitty one, but still a father. And one, where she raised her two sons alone. She looked at the picture once more and stroked her thumb over it carefully._

_Then she sighed, looked at the newspaper one more time, dropped it in to the garbage and turned around to call to the boy in the playground._

_"Merle! Come on, let's go home!"_

_\-------------_

**Boston  
Year 1972**

_Annabelle was sitting in her living room, staring at a newspaper. She had read the article about ten times now. She wiped away a tear and then looked at the picture on the wall._

_Her and Noah where hugging each other in it. They both looked so happy, oblivious to their non-extant future together. They'd had such big plans. They were gonna move back to Ireland and have a big family, move to a farm and maybe fave some animals there too. But then Noah had to go and ruin it all._

_She looked at the newspaper one more time before she threw it in the trash. Then she looked at the picture on the wall. Se stood up from the couch and took the picture down, opening the frame and replacing the picture with another. An ultrasound picture of twins. The old picture she put behind the new one and closed the frame. Se placed it in to a suitcase full of her clothes and other personal items. Then she closed it and had a last look around her and Noah's old apartment._

_She sighed and walked to the door, opened it and looked behind her back at the newspaper in the trashcan. She wiped a stray curl behind her ear and walked out the door._

_"Good bye Boston. Ireland, here we come."_

\--------------

**Now**

 

"Come on, walk faster!"

Murphy rolled his eyes to that, but still tried to pick up his pace to get to his brothers side. He eyed his brother quietly picking up Connors mood. They had heard about Atlanta's refugee camp from their car radio and drove all the way from Boston only to find out that this was yet another dead end. Camp was overrun when they had arrived, and the city looked like it had been bombed. They had managed to get out of the city quite well actually without geeks getting them, but then their car had broken down in the highway. Either of them were mechanics, or knew anything about cars anyway (Rocco, Rome or their dad had always handled that kind of things), so they had to abandon it and carry on on foot, hoping to find another vehicle on the way.

They didn't exactly know where they were headed, but figured that since they were already in Georgia, they might as well stay for a while and look for their big brother, who they had never even met, but had heard about from their father. Noah was in a relationship with a woman called Meredith nearly ten years before he met their mother. He told them that they had a son together, but soon after his birth they broke up. Noah had still been close to his son and kept in touch in regular basis and even visited them from time to time. Last visit had been sometime around when he and her mother had met, and when He and Annabelle had started dating, he stopped visiting, but still called his son few times a week. but after he went to prison Meredith made it very clear to him that her son was not gonna visit him there, or keep in touch in any way. He didn't know how his son had turned out, but he hoped for the best. Meredith was a good mother.

Noah hadn't told them much about their half-brother, only that he lived near Atlanta by the mountains, and that his name was Merle. Merle Dixon. Of course they knew that Merle probably wasn't there anymore, but it couldn't hurt to look around. Not like they had someplace else to be anyway. And there was something more to that as well, something either of them couldn't quite understand. They felt like something was pulling them there, guiding them through the forest. The feeling was similar to that night when they had woken up in the middle of the night at the same time in the sell in Bostons police station, when they'd heard the calling, before their first hit.

"What's the matter with ya?" Murphy asked and eyed Connor some more, not really appreciating the eye-rolling and angry glares his twin was giving him. Connor just shrugged and tried to ignore his twin. 

"Well? Come on then, i'm gettin' sick of yer mopin' around!" Murphy pushed, and got exactly what he expected.

"Shut it! Yer gettin' sick of my fuckin' mopin' around' ye little shit? It was yer idea to come to Atlanta in the first place! No fuckin' look at us! We 'ave no car, no refugee center and were roaming around in some woods in fuckin' Georgia!" Connor yelled getting more angry by the second.

"Looking for some brother we've never even fuckin' met! Who -by the way- is most likely dead, or somewhere far from fuckin' here!" He continued and showed Murphy. Not hard, but to show him that he was really fucking angry right now.

Murphy looked at him and tried to fight a smirk. Connor was usually the calm half from the two of them, but those rare times when he really got mad were kind of hilarious to Murphy. The swears would just keep coming from his mouth and he sounded like a teenager who had just learned that kind of language. Murphy chuckled a bit, which earned another shove from his brother. He showed back, and got a punch in the gut for a return. 

"Ye son of a.." He didn't get to finish the thought when connor slapped him to the back of his head quite hard.

"That's yer fuckin' mother yer talking about."

Murphy rolled his eyes and rubbed his head.

"Fuck ye and yer slappin'!" He snapped and shoved his brother. Connor stumbled a bit and glared Murphy.

"Fuck _ye_ , and yer annoying stupid fuckin' face!" He snapped back.

Murphy slapped him at the back of his head. Naturally Connor slapped back, and soon it escalated to a proper fight. They kicked and punched each other where ever they could and ended up rolling in the ground.

Connor had just managed to pin his brother to the ground and was now sitting on top of him and glaring at him. Murphy glared back just as angrily.

"I'm gonna fuckin' kill ye, ye annoyin'..." He growled but didn't get to finish his loving promises to his brother, when a loud scream startled them. They stilled and started listening.

"Mom!" Both brothers got up and stared at each other in horror.

"Carl!" They looked at the direction where the voices were coming.

"Dad!"

"Baby!"

"Mommy!" Now there were two different voices screaming for help. Both children. They stared each other for a second and then started running. They ran to the directions of the screams and when they reached the place, they couldn't see anyone but a walker, eating a deer that had two arrows sticking out from its thigh. They stared it for a while, but when they heard someone coming their way, Connor grabbed Murphy by his shirt and pulled him down in the bushes with him. 

"Hey, what the hell are ye-" "Shhh!" Connor silenced him by putting a hand to his mouth and then pointed to the direction of the sound. A second later six men came through the bushes whit weapons in their hands, eyes fixed on the walker. They stilled and watched them as they started to beat down the walker. It went on for a while until the oldest of the men cut it's head off with an ax. The men looked at the walked in disgust.

"It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain." The old man said and he sounded worried. Connor looked at his brother, worried as well. He'd thought the mountains would be safer, and that's why he wanted to put up a camp there for the night. Murphy just looked at the scene in front of them curiously. One of the men started to explain about the lack of food for walkers in the city, but then they heard rustling of the leaves behind them and all of them turned around. Connor grabbed Murphy by his arm and stared at the bushes. He slowly placed his other hand on top of his knife, that was hanging from his belt. Murphy shifted little closer to his brother and looked at the bushes too.

The men pointed their weapons to where the sounds came, but then a man stepped out from behind the trees. Both twins widened their eyes and looked at each other, and then the man again.

The men lowered their weapons and one of them rolled his eyes with an annoyed "Ohh, jesus.". The man who looked _exactly_ like Murphy, but dirtier and little more muscular, grabbed his crossbow little tighter and looked at the deer that was laying on the ground.

"Son of a bitch!"

Connor looked at Murphy, who was staring at the redneck in disbelief, and then the man again. _What the hell?_

"That's my deer!" The man went on.

The twins looked at each other again, having one of their silent conversations.

_How the hell is that possible?_  
_I don't know. It's kinda freaky.  
How can he look just like me?_

Connor glanced the man again and then widened his eyes.

_Maybe..._

Murphy looked at Connor for a second and then turned his focus to the redneck with a crossbow again.

"Look at it all gnawed on by this filthy, disease bearin', motherless, poxy bastard!" The man spat and kicked the walkers body with every word.

Connor frowned.

_No way. Could it be? We are in Georgia after all. In the mountains where he's supposed to live. Could it be?_

"Calm down son, that's not helpin'." The old man said and sighed.

"What'd ye know 'bout it, old man? Ye take that stupid hat and go back to "On Golden Pond"!" The man snapped and then turned to the deer again.

"Been trackin' this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison." He mumbled while pulling the arrows out. The other men rolled their eyes and it didn't exactly look like they liked the redneck that much. Not that they could blame them. The redneck didn't exactly put out a friendly vibe.

"What'd ye think? Think we could cut around this chewed up part right here?" The hunter went on.

Connor turner his head to Murphy again. 

"Murph" He whispered so that only his twin could hear.

Murphy turned looked at his brother with a frown. "Conn, what the hell is goin' on? How can he.."

"I don't know." Connor answered and rubbed his neck. "Maybe..."

"What?"

"I don't know, i mean he looks just like ye. And we're in Georgia, in the mountains. I was just thinkin' that maybe he's..."

"No. No way. No." Murphy interrupted him and shook his head.

"Come on it's got to be 'im! Just look at 'im." Connor whisper-shouted and pointed at the man.

Then the walkers head started snapping it's teeth in the ground a woman let out a disgusted "Oh god!". They fell silent and looked at the head. Murphy had a hard time keeping his stomach content inside. He placed a hand to his mouth and looked away.

"Come on people, what the hell?" Murphy's look alike said and shot the head with his crossbow. After pulling his arrow out, he wen't on. "It's gotta be the brain, don't y'all know nothin'?"

The men left the scene following the redneck, leaving the twins alone with the dead walker and the deer.

Connor stood up and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Murph... Ye saw him. It has to be him. How else is that possible?"

Murphy rolled his eyes. "Fine. Maybe, _maybe_ , it's him. But even so, what do ye wanna do about it? He didn't seem too friendly."

"I don't know Murph, maybe we just watch them for a while, see how they are." Connor rubbed his forehead an sighed.

They decided to follow the group of people, but stay hidden and just observe for a while. They had just caught up to them when they heard the conversation.

_"Daryl! Slow up a bit i need to talk to you."_

"I told you! He's name's Daryl! It's not him." Murphy whispered to Connor who frowned.

_"About what?"_

"That's just too freaky. How can ye two look so alike and not be related?"

Murphy was kinda freaked out by it too. He observed the man, who was apparently called Daryl, for a moment. He was dirty, more muscular and wore different (redneck) kinda clothes, and his bone structure was a bit harsher, but yeah, he really looked like a copy of him.

"About Merle."

Both brothers stilled. 

_Wait what?_

_About Merle._

"Did ye hear that?"

"Of course i fuckin' heard that!"

"Ye think they're talking about _him_?"

Murphy didn't answer but shifted little closer to hear better. The men all looked like they were about to start a fist fight any minute now.The conversation went on for a while, but then Daryl said something that made both brothers gasp in surprise.

"You sayin' you hand-cuffed my brother to a roof... _And you left 'im there_?"

_You sayin' you hand-cuffed my brother to a roof._

_Brother._

Connor grabbed Murphy's shirt. "His brother's name is Merle!"

"I heard Conn, let go." Murphy was getting a little pissed about his brothers enthusiasm. He was a little skeptic about it. It just couldn't be possible, their father had only mentioned one brother. "It's probably not even the same Merle." He went on and scratched his tattooed neck.

"Oh come on, what are the chances that a guy, who looks just like ye and has a brother named Merle, the same name our brother has, is not..." Connor drifted off when he saw the chance of the scenery in front of them. One of the guys had Daryl in a choke-hold and the other guy was kneeling in front of him. "Murph, we gotta..." "Shut up Conn and just wait a second!" Murphy whisper-shouted knowing his brothers intentions.

"Fuck ye, just look at what's happening there, we gotta..." He stopped talking and calmed a bit when the guy let go of Daryl. He couldn't quite explain it, but when he saw Daryl like that, his protective side kicked in. He didn't know why, he didn't even know the guy, but there was something about him that made him want to go over there and shoot the guy who'd had him in a choke-hold, that was both illegal and a horrible way to restrain someone. Sure he looked like Murphy, but that wasn't all there was about it. 

Murphy eyed his brother angrily. Sure, when he thought about it, there was a huge possibility that this man really was their brother too. He just didn't want Connor to get all exited about it. They didn't know the guy and he didn't look too friendly. Even if this was their brother, if he was a bad guy, he didn't want anything to do with him.

\--------------------------

"Daryl! Slow up a bit i need to talk to you." Shane didn't sound as cocky and macho as all the other times when he talked to either of the Dixon brothers. Daryl frowned unsure what to expect.

"About what?"

Shane walked past him rubbing his head like he always did when he was nervous. Daryl noticed his tense behavior and it made him even more unsure.

"About Merle... There was a... a problem in Atlanta."

Suddenly Daryl became painfully aware of his brothers absence. He felt a huge lump rise to his throat and panic started to creep into his mind. He looked around the camp just to be sure, but he still couldn't find his big brother amongst the group.

"he dead?" Was only thing he managed to say, even though he really didn't want to hear the answer. It was pretty obvious, since Merle wasn't there. For a little while Shane didn't say anything. Then with a wary voice he answered.

"M'not sure."

Daryl tensed even more and grew a bit angry with the answer. _M'not sure. What the fuck you mean not sure. What the hell did these douche bags do to my brother?_ "He either is or he ain't" He spat out looking more pissed by the second.

"No easy way to say this so i'll just say it." Someone he didn't recognize answered to him and walked towards him.

"Who are you?" Daryl asked and got even more pissed. Great. Some new idiot to mess things up even more. What the hell had these people done to Merle?

"Rick Grimes." The man sounded just like every other big city prick who he ever had talked to. Wary and judgemental, like he was better than him.

"Rick grimes... Ya got somethin' ya wanna tell me?" He spat the words at the new guys face shifting his weight from one foot to another trying not to jump the guy right there and then.

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof hooked in to a piece of metal. He's still there." The new guy said and he didn't even sound like he was sorry. Not that it mattered. Daryl was furious. He had to turn around when guys words hit him hard. _Merle's stuck in some roof in Atlanta. Atlanta's full of creepy dead freaks that like to have people-burgers for lunch. He's stuck there. He's gonna die there. If he's not already dead._

He felt his eyes water and wiped them with the back of his hand trying not to show anyone how desperate he felt right there and then. "Hold on..." He mumbled trying to find the right words. "Le'mme process this.." He said with a hand gesture, twirling his fingers beside his temple. His voice was almost shaking, but he managed to keep it somewhat steady. Angry, but steady.

"You sayin' you handcuffed my brother to a roof... And you **left him there**?" He couldn't stop himself from yelling the last part. It was so unbelievable. What kind of people could do that to another human being? He couldn't understand. Sure Merle wasn't the easiest guy to get along with, and he usually was annoying asshole. Merle himself had done some shitty things to other people, but this really topped all the things he had ever done in his life. Nobody deserved this.

"Yeah..." The new asshole answered with a nod.

Daryl tried to hold himself back for a second. He breathed heavily trying not to shoot the guy with his crossbow, and the same time trying not to fall to his knees and start crying. He felt so desperate. He couldn't loose Merle. He just couldn't. Merle was all he had. All he'd ever had. And he was gone? No fucking way. He couldn't hold back anymore, and threw the squirrels that he had carried at Rick, who ducked and that was just what he wanted. The guy was too busy trying to not get hit by the squirrels that he wasn't paying attention to him for a moment. He darted towards him trying to get to him so he could.. he didn't even know if he wanted to kill the guy, or just beat him to a bloody pulp. But he figured that he would find out along the way.

Just when he was about to reach Rick, Shane tackled him to the ground and he was thrown on his back. _Kill. Definitely kill. Every last motherfucker that had anything to do with it._

"Hey!" he heard T-dog yell in the background as he reached for his knife. He grabbed it and got up from the ground. "Watch the knife!" T-dog went on. Daryl glared at the three men in front of him with blood lust in his eyes. These guys were pretty much dead already in his head. Nobody fucked with Dixons, expect Dixons. He got closer to Rick and waved the knife aiming for his throat, but sadly, he missed when the guy leaned back to get away from the lethal weapon. Then he somehow grabbed his knife-holding hand and Shane his other hand and he was overpowered. Shane got him in a choke-hold and as he wrestled him into the ground Daryl felt like he was about to explode. " **Y'best le'mme go**!" He roared and got even more angry with Shane's answer. "Nah, i think i's better if I don't" He said and pulled him even more closer to the ground. Sometime during the fight Rick had managed to get his knife, so he didn't have anything to defend himself with.

"Choke-hold's illegal!" He tried, but even this would't get Shane off of him.

"Yeah, you can file a complaint." He just said probably thinking that he was hilarious. Daryl was furious and he started to feel a bit panicked. He felt pressure to his throat and suddenly flashbacks started to flow to his mind. Countless times his father had nearly choked him to death. He could almost feel his fathers rough hands around his throat again. He forgot about Merle and everything else that was going on around him, and tried to squirm away from Shane's grip. In his mind he was just a kid again trying to fight for his life. He couldn't calm down, but that was the only way Shane was ever gonna let him go.

"Come on man, we can do this all day." He heard Shane say right above his head, but to him it sounded more like it was coming from somewhere very far. He tried to calm himself down and stop squirming, but his breathing didn't slow at all. He was far too panicked for that.

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic, you think we can manage that?" He noticed Rick had knelt in front of him and was trying to reason with him, but he couldn't answer because he felt like he couldn't breath.

"You think we can manage that?" Rick repeated. Daryl felt desperate. He felt like he would do anything to just get out of this situation. He managed to nod a little but no words would come out anymore. He felt like he was gonna faint from utter fear right there and then. 

Finally Shane let him go throwing him to the ground again. He managed to sit down and start calming himself down, but not before flipping Shane off first. His head was spinning, and it didn't exactly help him to calm down that Rick was already on him about Merle again. He just sat there on the ground and tried to gather his thoughts and at the same time trying to listen what Rick said.

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work 'n play well with others." _Well that's an understatement of the year_. Daryl tought and tried to come up with an answer, but he didn't get the chanse, when T-dog opened his mouth. "'S not Rick's fault..." He looked really nervous and glanced the surrounding people, obviously trying to avoid eye contact with the redneck. "I had the key, I dropped it." He went on and still wouldn't look Daryl in the eye.

Daryl couldn't belive his ears. Was this guy fuckin' retarded? "Couldn't pick it up?" He spat and glared him. He had almost recovered from Shane's attack, but was still sitting on the ground because he was afraid that if he stood up hes legs might give in. Too many traumatizing memories had come to his mind with the choke-hold, and he was actually shaking a little because of that.

"I dropped it in a drain." T-dog confessed and this time looked him in the eye. Daryl actually respected him a little because of his honesty. He came clean, even tough he could've just let Rick and Shane handle it. Still, he couldn't understand the stupidity of all this. He snorted and dropped his head trying to fight the tears again. He gathered all his strenght and pushed himself up rolling his eyes and walking a bit further away from Rick and Shane. "Supposed t' make me feel better, it don't." He answered, still extremely pissed off. 

"Maybe this will. I changed the door to the roof, so the geeks couldn't get at him... With a padlock."

He just glared at the three men. Fighting a loosing battle against the tears. He closed his eyes for a moment and let his head sink turning his back at the men. Rick said something about it counting for something, but honestly he wasn't even trying to pay attention anymore, despair slowly invading his mind. he almost let out a sob mut stopped himself just in time to just gasp for air quetly. And then he got angry again. Angry at the people surrounding him for leaving his brother behind, angry at Merle for leaving with these people in a first place and lastly angry at himself, for not having a better self control over this ridiculous weeping. _Jesus, where'd you store your balls Darlena? Into yer purse?_ He heard Merle's voice in his head and got even more furious, if that was even possible.

" **Hell with all y'all!** " He shouted and turned to face the three guys again. "Just tell me where he is... so's i can go get 'im!" He continued and heard his voice break a little. He couldn't leave his big brother to that god forsaken roof to die. He had to get him back. 

He didn't really know how to live without his brother, to be honest. Sure, he knew how to stay alive, and he had done just that many times before, when Merle had been in jail or somewhere else. He had been alone countless times, and Merle had almost never really been there for him. He came and went as he pleased, but he was still always just a phone call away. He was always still there, even if he really wasn't. And he honestly didn't think he could survive without him. It was fucked up, all Merle ever did was abuse him. Not in the same way there father did, but in his own way. Words, insults, manipulations and sometimes even a few punches now and then, but never beating him to the ground like their father. Their physical fights were always even, never about one beating the other to a bloody pulp, like their father did to them both regularly. Merle used Daryl to get him food, find shelter and watch over them when in the meantime he got high and drunk. And the fucked up part was that Daryl kinda thought that he deserved every bit of it.  
And he owed Merle, because he had took their fathers punches alone for fife years before he was born and then another fife before their father decided that he was old enough to take beatings too. With Merle, life was a constant pain and fear, but at the same time there was still good times. When they would share a beer and talk about anything else but their past, when Merle would place his hand on his shoulder when they were on a group that had too much people and everything got too overwhelming for Daryl. The times he had tended to his wounds after their fathers drunken 'lessons' on how to behave. Daryl did't know how he could survive, because even if Merle was constant pain in the ass, mean and abusive, hes presence was still calming for Daryl, because Merle being there meant that no one else but Merle was going to hurt him. He was his rock, in some fucked up way.

"He'll show you... Ain't that right?" a woman named Laura or Lori or something said and pulled him out from his thoughts. She seemed to be pissed off for some reason. 

"I'm going back." Rick ended the conversation and that was all Daryl really needed to hear anyway. He shook his head angrily and went to pick up his crossbow from the ground.

\---------------------------------

Somehow Murphy had managed to get Connor to think about it before they showed themselves. They decided to sit there in the bushes for a while and just check out what kind of people were in the camp before them. They listened to the conversations and watched people. Watched Daryl. He was just sitting by the campfire and cleaning his crossbow looking really beat about his brother, who apparently got left behind in Atlanta. Connor was worried. He didn't want to think about the possibility of their brother, who they'd never even met, being in some rooftop alone and vulnerable surrounded by walkers. He felt sorry for the man sitting by the campfire. He knew what it was like to worry about a brother. Again he felt the protectiveness kick in and he really wanted to just fuck it and go over there and comfort the guy, although he seemed like the kinda guy who would kick his ass if he tried to.

They'd been sitting there about fifteen minutes or so, when the two men who seemed to be in charge of the camp started to argue. The bigger guy didn't seem to be very happy about the other guys plan to go back for Merle. Connor frowned. How could someone even think about just leaving a man to die like that. Connor shifted his weight from one foot to another and was just about to get up when Murphy gripped his sleeve and pulled him right back on the ground.

"Don't ye even think about it, we ain't goin' there yet. I want to observe a little more." He whispered, sensing his brother tense. Connor sighed, starting to get frustrated about his brothers stubborness. He wanted to show himself so he could ask about this Merle. If he really was who he thought he was.

Still he wanted to respect his brothers wish and was about to give in and stay, but when he heard the next statement that came out from one of the guys mouth, he couldn't hold himself back.

"Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?"

 _Merle Dixon_.

Before Murphy could do anything to resist, Connor was already up and walking towards the people. He growled furiously and followed him, covering him if needed.

Connor approached the people carefully. When he was noticed, the men looked really surprised for a second and then grabbed their weapons and pointed them to Connor.

"That's far enough!" The bigger guy snarled and Connor stopped, raising his hands a little. A gesture of peace, that got quickly ruined because Murphy had already rased his beretta and was pointing it to the men.

"Put it down!" The guy with a sheriffs hat yelled and pointed his gun to Murphy instead. Connor moved so he was shielding his twin from a possible bullet.

" _Ye_ put it down!" was Murphy's response. Connor reached behind him and grabbed his brothers weapon before he could protest. He put it in his pants and rolled his eyes to his brothers silent curses.

"We don't want any trouble!" He tried to calm the people who were staring at them, some of them scared and some of them seemed angry. Connor glanced at Daryl, who was just staring at them with wide eyes, unable to do anything. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. "We were just passing by yer camp when we heard ye talkin' about a guy we're actually looking for. Merle Dixon?" He went on. He saw Daryl stand up from the corner of his eye. The archer slowly walked little closer to the two men pointing their guns at them, but wouldn't raise his crossbow, he just stared, looking like he was lost in thoughts.

"You one of his druggie friends?" The bigger guy asked mockinly. Connor could feel Murphy tense behind him and he placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him from making things worse. Murphy rolled his eyes and glared the man. "Ye better shut up!" He yelled and took a step forward.

Just then people noticed the resemblance between Murphy and Daryl. People were eyeing them with confused looks on their faces.

"Wait a sec, are you two related?" The guy in a baseball cap asked and pointed towards Murphy and Daryl.

"No! Shut yer hole!" The archer instantly snapped at the guy and sounded far more hatefull than should. Connor frowned and Murphy rolled his eyes again.

"Yer name is Daryl, right? Daryl Dixon?" Connor asked and turned his focus on Daryl.

"What's it to ye?" The redneck spat and glared at the twins.

"Ye Merle's brother?" Murphy suddenly spoke up before Connor could say another word. They could see Daryl tense hearing his lost brothers name.

"Yeah?" He confirmed, still sounding hostile. Connor and Murphy shared a look.

_Ye know what that means._  
Yea i know what that means, shut up about it.  
We should help him. 

"Can we talk to ye?" Connor asked and ignored his brothers hateful glare. Daryl rolled his eyes.

"Fine." He sounded almost frustrated. "'N after that, i'm leaving to Atlanta. With or without y'all." He continued, now speaking to the men in his group. The two men had already lowered their weapons. The bigger guy turned around and walked away rubbing his head angrily. He mumbled something about how this was idiocy and that Merle was a douche bag. Connor glared at his back.

\-----------

They had walked to the quarry near the camp. No one had said a word during their walk, and it was obvious that all of them felt really awkward. They were just standing there, looking at the water. No one really knowing how to say anything.

After a while, Connor broke the ice. "So.. I'm Connor, and that's Murphy. We're..."

"Yeah, i know who ye 'r. MacManus, right?" Daryl interrupted him, and he didn't sound so hostile anymore. The twins looked at each other in surprise. Connor then looked at Daryl and raised his eyebrow. "Right..."

Murphy, who didn't feel so angry anymore either, turned toward his brother and Daryl. "How do ye..."

"The famous Boston Saints." Daryl interrupted yet again. It was quiet for a while after that. The three men just looked at the water.

"And i know how ye know my brother 'n me." Daryl said quietly and looked at his feet.

The twins looked at him in surprise.

"Yeah, Merle told me 'bout y'all when we were kids. How our real dad was so much better than..." He trailed off and still wouldn't look at the twins. "Showed me a picture in the paper one time, sayin' that's our dad, and brothers."

He sighed and chewed his thumb nail. "Always thought it was just a bunch of B.S to make himself feel better." He continued after a while and rubbed the back of his neck. "'Till ye two showed up asking shit 'bout 'im."

"So ye know we're brothers?" Connor asked quietly and looked at the water again.

"Yeah." Daryl answered and the three of them fell quiet again.

After a while, much in Connors surprise, Murphy spoke up. "We're gonna help ye."

Daryl looked at Murphy and raised an eyebrow.

"To get him back." Murphy went on and looked the archer in the eye. Daryl stared him for a while, looking like he was trying to decide. Then he gave a little nod and chewed his lower lip.

Connor looked at Daryl and then at Murphy. He smirked a little at the thought. He was so happy that they had found the redneck, even though he seemed a little hostile, dirty and well... a redneck, he still thought it was amazing that they had a new brother, and another one somewhere in Atlanta. He couldn't wait to reunite Daryl and Merle, so all of them could start getting to know each other. To become a family. "Well let's get going then!"


	2. He's Gone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the second chaper! Hope you like it :)

**Georgia  
Year 1977**

 

_A loud clatter echoed through the walls of the old, rickety house, followed by child's terrified voice. "No no no no no!"_

_The boy had bumped in to a table while wondering through the dark living room, trying to get to the kitchen to get himself something to eat, since his father had passed out without feeding him first, again. Panicking, Daryl tired to gather all the items that had fallen from the table, only to notice that one of them was an ashtray, full of cigarette butts and ash. He tried to scrub the ash from the floor with his sleeve, but stilled when he heard the stairs creak. He looked to the direction of the stairs and held his breath._

_He feared his father. Will Dixon was tall, broad shouldered, beer bellied, muscular man, who had a really bad temper that got only worse when he was drunk, wich was almost always. He would usually get angry about the smallest things and when he had a real reason to get mad, he was a nightmare. He would yell, shout and throw things and few times Daryl had seen him hit Merle. He himself had never been in the receiving end of a fist and that was something he wanted to avoid experiencing._

_The creaking stopped and the house fell quiet for a moment. Daryl bit his lip and tried to come up with an explanation for the mess he'd made. The floor boards started to make noise again when his father walked behind the door of the room he was in, and he squeezed his eyes shut, hoping his father would just go back to bed and not yell at him this time. Like that was ever going to happen. The door opened with a loud creak and a dim light filled the room. Daryl inhaled quickly and stood up to face his drunken father._

_"What the fuck are ye doin' down here?" The hoarse voice startled him._

_"I... I was just-" He tried to explain himself with a panicking voice, but got interrupted._

_"Speak up! I can't hear a fucking word ye say when ye whine like a little bitch!" Will spat and stepped closer. Daryl automatically flinched a step back, which was a reaction his father didn't like. He grabbed him by the back of his neck and squeezed a little. "Ye trying to get away from me when i talk to ye?"_

_Daryl shook his head quickly and looked at his father in the eye. "I'm sorry daddy, i was just trying to get something to eat..." He was interrupted yet again. "Ye sayin' i don't feed ye good enough so ye gotta try 'n sneak food in the middle of the night ye ungrateful piece of shit?"_

_Will grabbed his son from his shirt and looked him in the eye. Daryl looked terrified and when a tear fell to his cheek, Will got furious. "Ye cryin'?" he hissed at his son and came even closer._

_Daryl could smell the alcohol in his fathers breath. He held his breath and tried to fight tears, but it was useless and when he started sobbing and wiping his eyes with his sleeve, he felt helpless. Merle was out with his friends again and his mom was passed out upstairs, so there was no one to come and stop his father from yelling at him. All he could do was to try and calm his father down on his own. That had never really worked before, but he didn't know what else to do. He lunged towards his father and hugged him tight. His hands were so little that he couldn't get them around him but he held on to his shirt._

_He felt so scared and confused. He didn't know why his father was always so mad at him, even though he tried to be good and make him proud._

_The hugging didn't help at all, let alone calm his father. Will ripped him off of him by his shirt so hard that he fell on the ground, hitting the back of his head to the floor. He let out a pain filled yelp and looked at his father in horror._

_"Stop bein' such a whiny little pussy!" With that, Will stepped closer, hands on his belt buckle._

_"I'mma give ye a lesson on not bein' a little bitch." He took off his belt and grabbed Daryl by his arm hard enough for it to bruise. He tore his sons shirt off, ignoring the crying and begging and threw him on the ground._

_Daryl was lying on the ground on his stomach. His head was spinning from it's meeting with the floor and he felt fuzzy and nauseous. He thought he'd never felt this bad in his entire life._

_That was until the feeling of a belt slice through his back._

\---------------------

**Ireland**  
**Year 1977  
The exact same time**

 

_Murphy shot up from his bed panting for air. His whole body was aching like he'd been beat up and his clothes stuck to his skin because he was sweating. He looked over to his brothers bed and saw that Connor was doing the exact same thing as he was, sitting on his bed gasping for air. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and tried to remember the dream that had awaken him, and apparently his brother too._

_There was only bits and pieces that he could recall from the dream. A large man in front of him, his whole body aching and the fear. He thought he'd never felt so scared, helpless and alone in his entire life as he did in his dream few minutes ago. The feeling was coming back to him and he pulled his legs against his body and sniffed. He felt something wet on his cheeks and when he realized he was crying, his head dropped and he started sobbing a little louder._

_Few minutes went by as he was crying to his knees, hugging them, until he felt Connor sit beside him on the bed. He instantly hugged his brother and buried his face in his shoulder. Connor hugged him back just as tight and let out a sob too. They remained like that for a while and tried to calm down. After a long while Connor was the one to speak up._

_"He can't get ye. I'm gonna keep ye safe."_

_He'd had the same dream of course, but from a different perspective. He'd watched some huge and scary man beat up his brother. He didn't remember much of it either, but the feeling of being powerless to do anything while his bother was being hurt by someone was enough to make him feel sick. The twins sometimes had same dreams, so it wasn't strange that it'd happened tonight either when the dream had been so horrible._

_"Who was he, Conn?" Murphy asked and lifted his head from his brothers shoulder to look him in the eye._

_It wasn't like they knew which one of them had born first, their mother had never told them that, God knows why. Still Murphy had always thought of Connor as his big brother, his protector. Not that he'd ever tell him that of course, it was too fun to bicker over it. But in times like this, when he'd had a nightmare or when he'd gotten in to a fight with another kid from their neighborhood or any other time that he was hurt or scared, it was always Connor that he counted on to be there to protect him and he was right to do that. Connor was always there right beside him, feeling every single thing he felt. Every nightmare, every punch, every God damned skinned knee he'd ever gotten, Connor had been right there with him and he'd felt all of it just the same as he. And it went the same the other way around. Murphy felt his brothers every pain just as much as Connor felt his. They were like one person, one soul broken to two pieces and put in different bodies._

_"I don't know Murph, but he's never gonna get ye, i'm gonna make sure of that." Connor answered and his voice had a confidence in it, that calmed Murphy a bit. He nodded in response and shifted a little so his twin would fit in the bed better. They laid down on the bed and Connor pulled the blanket over them and then put his arm around his brother, who was facing him and hugging him. "I'm never gonna let anybody hurt ye."_

_Murphy smiled a little and snuggled closer to his brother. He closed his eyes and now that Connor was beside him, protecting him, he felt like he could fall a a sleep safely._

_"I love ye Conn." He whispered half a sleep._

_"I love ye too, Murp." Connor answered and was almost a sleep himself._

\--------------------

**Now**

 

He didn't know why, but when those two guys came out from the woods asking about Merle, he'd felt like something had fallen in place right there and then. Like something that had been missing from him all of his life had just now found him. He'd felt safe and secure and even happy for a moment. Merle had told the truth, the Boston Saints were really their brothers, and they'd actually come to Georgia all the way from Boston just to find them.

But then, like someone had flipped a switch, all those happy feelings had changed back to the anger, fear and the hopelessness about _Merle_ not being there, but somewhere in Atlanta, trapped. And when Glenn had asked if they were related, he felt like he'd be betraying Merle if he confessed that the two of them really were his brothers and this was all a big happy family event where long lost brothers found each other, while one of them was somewhere trapped and probably loosing hope on ever getting out of there. He couldn't turn his back on Merle like that, so he'd snapped at the chinaman and told him that he didn't know the guys. But when Murphy had told him they'd help him to find Merle, he couldn't be angry at _them_ anymore, although he was still, and rightfully so, angry at the people in camp.

When they walked towards the camp and he saw Rick and the others just _talking_ and not getting ready to head off, he got furious. He climbed in the back of the van and started pacing back and forth, unable to sit down and just wait. The twins followed right in his footsteps and and Murphy climbed in the van too, sitting down and watching Daryl. Connor headed off to Ricks direction, as he'd figured he was the leader.

"Sorry to interrupt-" He said and got closer to the three men. Rick was talking to the old man and T-dog was standing close by listening to the conversation, but when Connor spoke up, Rick stopped talking and they all looked in his direction. "We're coming with ye to Atlanta." 

Rick raised an eyebrow and looked at him in disbelief. "Are you now?" he said and it really he sounded like he was a little amused. Connor narrowed his eyes at that. "Ye got a problem with that?"

"Look, it's nice that you want to help, but we don't really know you guys and if you're buddies with _Merle_ , i don't know if i can trust ye. Daryl i have to take with, because it's his brother out there and i can't really stop him from coming anyway. But you.. I'd rather have only one guy i have to keep an eye out for with me on this trip than three." Rick said and got more serious. Connor had a hard time not to take out his gun out and shoot him right there while he talked. He didn't blame Daryl at all for swinging his knife at the guy earlier. He really had nerve telling them that they couldn't be trusted, when he was the one to leave Merle out there in the first place. He glared at Rick and shifted his weight from one foot to another.

"A few things. One; Ye-" He pointed first at Rick and then at T-dog. "Daryl don't even want ye there. Ye don't get to decide who comes and who doesn't, this ain't about ye, but him. Two; Ye got some nerve telling me that _ye_ can't trust _us_. We ain't the ones to leave a man had cuffed to a roof in a city full of walkers." Rick looked really uncomfortable and a little ashamed of himself by now, and that was what Connor had wanted for.

"And three; -" He got interrupted by Daryl who honked the horn of the van with his foot and yelled at them.

" **Let's go!** " Connor nodded and turned to Rick one last time.

"And three; Merle's _our_ brother too."

With that he turned around and walked to the van. Rick stood there for a while and looked after them, stunned look on his face, but when Daryl yelled again, he jogged to the van and got in the passenger seat. T-Dog climbed to the back of the van with the three brothers and sat on the ground. Daryl glared at him and shut the door.

\------------------------

They sat in silence for a while and just stared at the walls. Daryl was inspecting his bolts for any splintering, Connor was just staring at the road ahead and Murphy eyed Daryl, studying him. There was something in the redneck's essence that was calming to him. Like when he was with Connor, he felt the same way with Daryl, safe. Of course he didn't _really_ even know the archer and couldn't possibly fully trust him yet, but he somehow felt connected to him and in a way, trusted him to be a good guy. 

But at the same time the archer really pissed him off for some reason. Maybe it was because he looked like him, but stronger and harder. Murphy felt little envious because of that. Sure, he was a tough guy, a freaking _serial killer_ , but at the same time he was still like a kid sometimes, light-hearted and very dependent on his brother, and he wasn't made for surviving in this kind of world. He was used to big cities and easy life, getting food from the store close by when he was hungry, drinking beer at McGinty's with Connor and his buddies almost every night, and when they'd gone to prison, it had been tough sure, with all the other prisoners out to get them, but most of the guards had liked them, liked what they'd done so they'd kept them pretty safe. They'd brought them cigarettes and sometimes even smuggled in a couple beers for them while they were watching some old movies with them in the guard's office. He'd had a pretty easy life, while Daryl looked like the kinda guy that'd been toughened by the world. He looked like a survivor with his crossbow and big muscles, and with that dirt all over his body, he seemed not to care so much about his appearance, witch was probably a good thing in the middle of the apocalypse, where you would sometimes have to go weeks without a decent shower. Maybe that was it, maybe he was jealous of the redneck for being more fit to survive what the world had become and that pissed him off.

He watched Daryl for a while so lost in thoughts that he didn't notice that the archer had forgotten his bolts and was now looking back at him with curious look on his face. 

"What?"

Murphy startled out of his thoughts and looked away a little embarassed. "Nothin'..."

Connor had now awaken from his thoughts too, and was eyeing them with an amused look on his face. He looked at the redneck sitting across the van in the corner, and then at his twin sitting next to him. "It's kinda freaky..." He mumbled partly to himself and looked at the road again.

"What is?" Murphy asked and frowned a little. Daryl huffed, knowing what Connor had meant by that and then got back to his bolts.

"I mean, ye two look exactly alike. It's like yer the same person." Connor answered his twin and looked at him with a smirk. "Oh stop, we don't look _that_ much alike." Murphy rolled his eyes and looked at Daryl, who didn't seem to pay any attention to the twins anymore.

"So, you said that Merle's your brother too... That mean you three are brothers?" T-Dog decided to join the conversation, gesturing towards the three of them with his hand. He'd fixed his eyes on the twins and didn't dare to even glance at Daryl, who was now glaring at him from his corner. He clearly didn't appreciate T-Dog even using his brothers name after what he'd done, dropping the key and leaving Merle behind.

Connor smirked and nodded. Murphy seemed to be lost in thoughts once again.

"Your brothers never mentioned you before, how come you weren't together when this all started?" T-Dog went on and glanced nervously at Daryl, who rolled his eyes to him and started cleaning his crossbow with the red rag he had that he used for everything.

"Actually this is the first time we've ever met." Connor said and glanced at Daryl too.

"Really?" T-Dog asked and frowned.

"Well, to make a long story short, dear old daddy had a lot of fun when he was young." Connor said and smirked. T-Dog gave a little laugh.

Daryl snorted angrily from his corner and rolled his eyes at them, never looking up from his crossbow. Connor frowned. "what?"

Daryl just shook his head and huffed. "Dear old daddy..."

"Yeah?" Connor raised an eyebrow and looked at the archer curiously. Murphy looked at him too and they both waited for and explanation. Daryl didn't say anything and just kept cleaning his crossbow. All of them fell quiet for the rest of the drive.

\---------------------------

When Glenn pulled up on the edge of the city, Daryl lifted his head and looked T-Dog straight in the eye.

"He better be okay. 'S my only word on the matter."

"I told you, the geeks can't get at him. Only thing that's gonna get through that door is us." T-Dog answered him. Daryl glared at him and rubbed his red rag over his mouth.

"Come on man, he's gonna be just fine." Connor said reassuringly and Murphy nodded at that. "Yea, i mean, if the door is changed with a padlock, what could happen'?"

Daryl rolled his eyes to the stupidity of that statement. What could happen'? _What could happen'?_ He didn't say anything to that but glared Murphy angrily.

"We walk from here." Said Glenn from the drivers seat and stepped out form the car. Daryl shot up from his corner and opened the back door. He jumped out from the van and the twins followed him closely. The six of them started jogging towards the city, following Glenn who knew best how to move in the city without being noticed. The twins had pulled their berettas out and Daryl had his crossbow in his hand, ready to take down anything that came in their way.

When they were closer to the city, Rick spoke up. "Merle first, or the guns?" Daryl remembered hearing Rick and Shane talk something about a bag of guns that'd been left on the street by Rick, and that they were gonna get it back too. It'd be good to get some more guns to the camp. They were ridiculously unprotected by that quarry, with no fences and people running around unarmed with only their good intentions. Nevertheless it made Daryl furious that they would even think that they would get the guns first. "Merle! We ain't even havin' this conversation!" He answered angrily, and got just as angry answer to that from Rick.

"We are!" Daryl rolled his eyes and glared Rick.

"Wait, what guns?" Connor asked curiously and looked at Rick. Murphy noticed how tense Daryl was and walked beside him while Rick explained the guns to Connor.

"Man, ye okay?" He asked quietly and placed a hand to the archers shoulder. Daryl shook him off and glared at him. "'M fine, leave me be!" He growled and started pacing back and fort restlessly and waiting for them to carry on. Murphy rolled his eyes and turned to Connor and Rick to hear what they were talking about, while lighting two smokes and handing one to his brother.

"So Glenn, you know the geography, its your call." Rick finished his story about the guns. Murphy glared at him angrily, he didn't like this guy at all. He didn't seem to be sorry at all for leaving Merle behind, snapping at Daryl all the time and never even telling him he was sorry, what an asshole. "Of course were gonna get Merle first ye asshole! What kind of a dick-" He snapped at Rick before Glenn could say a word, but got interrupted by his brother. "Shut up Murph!" Connor shook his head, looking at him with that annoying look that Murphy knew all too well.

_Don't burn these bridges for us, we need to stick with these people if we wanna stick with our brothers._

"Merle's closest, the guns would mean doubling back. Merle first." Glenn said ignoring Murphy's outburst. No one said a word after that, and they started jogging towards the building Merle was in. Glenn was in the front, leading the way, Rick and T right beside him. The three brothers were on the back, side by side.

When they reached the street Merle's building was on, they stopped in an alley. Glenn peeked behind the wall and tried to come up with a way they could get to the other side of the street. There were about a dozen walkers up and walking, and dozen more were just laying on the ground or sitting in cars, looking like they were just dead, but they knew better. They knew that the second they heard a noise or smelled something that was alive, they would get up. They pressed against the wall, trying not to draw any attention to themselves.

"Okay, there's about two dozen of them on that street right now. No way we get to the other side without them noticing us without any distraction." Glenn whispered and turned to face the men behind him. 

"We could just make a run for it? Try to get to that alley opposite to us. There's a side door we could use to get inside, we're fast, the geeks can't get to us if we run and get inside quickly." T proposed, but Connor shook his head to that. 

"Dude, what if the door's locked? We'd get overrun if we couldn't get inside right away." He said and his brothers backed him up by nodding at that.

"The man's right. We need some kind of distraction." Daryl said and looked behind the wall to the street to make sure they were still unnoticed.

"I have an idea, Daryl i need you to come with me to back me up if we get in trouble, ye three, wait here, well be right back." Connor said and Daryl nodded, instantly trusting him, which surprised even himself. They were just about to leave when Murphy grabbed Connors sleeve. "Wait what? Why aren't ye taking me?" He said and frowned.

"Daryl's crossbow is quieter than yer gun." He said and pulled Murphy in to a hug. "And i need ye to watch that these assholes don't just leave for the guns and leave us and Merle, we can't trust them yet and ye know that. Watch yer back, keep yer gun in hand." He went on quietly so that only Murphy, who he was hugging and Daryl who was standing in front of them, shielding them from the other men's eyes, could hear. Murphy nodded and Daryl glanced behind him to the three men. "Let's go." He said quietly and even tapped Murphy's shoulder reassuringly. Connor nodded and let go of his brother to leave, when Rick spoke up.

"What are you gonna do?" 

"A little distraction. We'll be right back, ye just wait up." Connor said and nudged Daryl a little so he would follow him. He could hear Rick curse under his breath before they disappeared behind the building. They ran around the building to an alley other side of it and hid behind a dumpster.

"So what's yer big plan, huh?" Daryl whispered and peeked behind the dumpster to check on the walkers that were roaming around the street.

"We just set something on fire and flee, they'll see it and come check it out, leaving the street empty for us." Connor answered and gathered some thrash from the ground. "Hand me that newspaper pile from the thrash, will ye?"

Daryl grabbed the newspapers that were tied together with a thread and glanced at them. He snorted at the headline telling about some strange virus claiming thousands of victims. _More like half the planet..._ he thought and handed the pile to Connor who was piling trash paper on a trashcan lid he'd found from the ground. When it was full of paper, he silently pushed it in front of the dumpster and came back behind it with an old magazine in his hand. He peeked behind the dumpster to check on the walkers and then looked at Daryl who was right beside him with his crossbow in his hands. "Get ready, we need to run back to our alley, but so that they won't see or hear us." Daryl nodded and gripped his weapon tighter.

Connor lit the magazine on fire and sneaked beside the dumpster. He placed the burning magazine on top of the other papers he'd gathered setting them on fire too. Then he quickly returned behind the dumpster beside Daryl who frowned. "Wait, they're not even gonna notice that-" He began to protest Connors plan, but got interrupted. "I know, get ready." Connor said and took his gun out. Then he hit the dumpster whit the butt of the gun so that it let out a loud bang. "Run." He just said and grabbed Daryl from his wrist. Daryl widened his eyes to the sound but followed Connor still, even if he was incredibly angry at the guy for doing something so stupid. They ran as fast as they could in a crouched position, still hiding beside the wall and when they got behind the building, they stood up right and ran to the alley where the others were. When they got there, Murphy instantly hugged his brother.

"Are ye okay? Whe heard the bang sound, what happened?" He asked but before Connor could answer, Daryl tore him away from his brother from his shirt and pushed him against the wall with one hand on his chest, one pointing at him. "What the _fuck_ was that? Couldn't give me a little warning that ye were gonna ring the freaking dinner bell, huh?" he spat and glared at Connor who raised both of his hands in a gesture of peace. "Sorry man, relax, it worked, didn't it?" The twin tried to calm him and gestured towards the street that had emptied from walkers. Daryl gave him a death glare and started walking. "Come on."

They jogged through the street to the alley opposite to them, and Rick tried to open the door, that really turned out to be locked. T looked a little ashamed and the twins glared at him a little, Rick tried to come up with a plan to open the door quietly, but then Daryl spoke up. "Anyone got somethin' like a wire or a pin?" He whispered and looked to the other men.

"Nah, but wait a sec..." Connor said and glanced at the street where a lonely walker was staggering towards the alley they'd set the fire on. He scanned the street with his eyes to see that it was safe for now, and took out his knife. "I'll get ye a pin." He said and was just about to move when Murphy grabbed him. "Now wait a second there, ye ain't doing that shit by yerself." Connor rolled his eyes and was about to protest when Rick talked.

"You ain't doing that shit at all, what if you blow our cover?"

"Oh come on ye two, nothing's gonna happen, i'll just get the pin and come back. Nothing's gonna happen." Then he shook off his brothers grip and used the second he was free to run out to the street. He heard Murphy whisper-shout his name angrily but he went on, not willing to stop in the middle of his plan. He ran behind the walker and grabbed her from her neck. She let out a snarl that was cut short by Connor stabbing her in the back of her head. Then he lowered her to the ground so that her fall wouldn't make any noise, and when she was on the ground, he put his hands in her hair, and found just what he was looking for, a bobby pin. He grabbed it and tried to take it out, but when he did, a chunk of her hair _and he scalp_ came off with it. He somewhat managed to keep himself from puking when he ripped the hair and the skin from the pin and returned to the alley.

"Here." He said and handed it to Daryl, who took it and started to pick the lock. Both Murphy and Rick glared at Connor. After a while, the lock opened with a click and Daryl pulled the door open with his crossbow ready to fire. There was no walkers in sight so they entered, closing the door behind them.

Rick was at the front when they entered the clothing store that was on their path to the stairwell. They moved quietly and everybody stopped when Rick raised his hand and pointed at his eyes, and then at a lonely walker that was roaming through the store. Daryl took the lead with his crossbow and quickly moved closer tho the walker. He positioned himself in front of her and raised his crossbow. "Damn, ye are one ugly skank." He said right before he shot her in the head, dropping her to the ground. Murphy snorted a little amused to that statement and grinned at Daryl. "Can't argue with that."

Daryl grinned at him and went to take his arrow out from her head.

They found the stairwell quickly after that without any other walker incidents, and started running up the stairs, Rick and T-Dog with the bolt cutters in the front. When they reached the top floor only one thing ran through Daryl's head. What if they found him dead? He felt a little panicked when he couldn't hear anything through the door. His worry must have shown from his face when Connor placed a hand on his shoulder while T was trying to open the door. "Dude, he's gonna be fine."

Daryl didn't answer that because just then T broke the chain. He opened the door with one hard kick and bolted through it.

"Merle! Merle!" He was screaming from the top of his lungs, desperate to get any confirmation to Connors statement, but no answer would come. He ran to the pipe his brother had been changed to and then he saw it. 

The handcuffs were hanging loose and there was a bloody saw on the ground. Right beside it, a severed hand.

He felt like the whole world was crashing down on him. "No!"

He felt his eyes water, but he didn't care. "No!"

He was pacing through the roof, trying to get a glimpse of his brother somewhere, to get some answers to where he was, where he'd went, but again, no answers would come. He couldn't see any clues of his brother, couldn't see anything. It was like everything disappeared from his mind, all there was, was a buzzing in his head and the hand on the floor. He looked up at the men standing on the platform with a helpless look on his face, and all of them looked at back at him with a genuine empathy. Daryl looked at the twins who both looked devastated. His brothers looked back at him and the look on the archers face broke their hearts. Merle was his rock, his guardian, his everything. He was all he had in this world, all he'd ever had.

And now, he was _gone_. "No!"


	3. We Protect Our Own

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kinda surprised how fast i updated this, but i'ts weekend and i got nothing else to do. JK i got lot's of other stuff and thangs to do but writing was the most fun :D

They stood there on the roof for what felt like an hour. Rick, T and Glenn stared at Merle's severed hand, Connor and Murphy at Daryl and Daryl at nothing in particural, he just stared. He felt tears falling to his cheeks but he didn't care. He felt like he'd lost everyhting in that moment when they'd burst through that door, and all he could do now was just stand there, looking at the last thing he had from his brother. A Hand. In that moment he didn't remenber that he'd just gotten himself two new family members, he didn't remember the happiness he'd felt when he'd seen them walk out from the woods, he didn't even remember they existed. All there was now was Merles hand. 

He knew that Merle was probably dead, no one could survive that kind of bloodloss, even if he'd used a tourniquet, he'd had to stop the bleeding somehow, and there wasn't exactly any hospitals left where he could go to get help. And even if he somehow would stop the bleeding, the odds in surviving out there in this world one handed and alone weren't that great.

He felt lost. 

But after a while, the sadness and the helplessness turned into anger. His breathing quickened and he could think only one thing. He was going to _kill_ that dickhead who'd left his brother here and made him cut off his own hand. He saw T standing behind him from the corner of his eye and his anger grew bigger. He grabbed his crossbow real hard and turned around with a loud growl, pointing it straight at T-Dogs face. T widened his eyes and looked at him, looking really scared. _Good, be scared. Ye'r gonna die asshole._. Just when he was about to pull the trigger, Rick raised his gun to his temple and took the safety off. He froze.

When Rick raised his gun up against Daryl's head, the brothers immediately acted. It was like a reflex, they drew their berettas out and pointed them at Ricks head at the same time, taking the safety off, making the guns click simultaneously. Rick froze, but wouldn't lower his weapon, and Daryl wouldn't lower his either. 

So they stood there, Daryl pointing his crossbow at T-Dog, Rick pointing his gun at Daryl and the twins pointing their guns at Rick. Glenn looked a little panicked by now. He scratched the back of his head, trying to come up with something that would get them out of this situation. "Come on guys, let's not do this." He was ignored by everyone, so he just rolled his eyes and sat on the ground. "We're gonna die."

"Go on, pull the trigger. See what happens." Connor hissed at Rick venomously. Rick turned his head lightly and looked at the brothers with the corner of his eye. "Lower your weapons. If he pulls the trigger, I won't hesitate, I don't care if every walker in the city hears it." Rick _really_ thought that they wouldn't go through with it it he shot Daryl. 

Murphy narrowed his eyes and pushed the muzzle of his gun against Rick's temple hard enough that Rick had to move his head back a little. Then he came real close to his face, the tip of his nose almost touching the former sheriffs cheek as he spoke. " _We_ won't hesitate. That's _our_ brother ye'r pointing yer gun at. Ye pull the trigger, ye fuckin' die the fuckin' second he goes down." Rick tried really hard to keep his poker face up, even though he saw it in Murphy's eyes that the guy was serious.

Daryl glanced at the twins and in that moment he remembered that he wasn't alone. He felt happy that someone cared so much that they really would _kill_ a good guy for him, even if they'd just met. And he knew Rick was a good guy, even though he'd left his brother behind, he hadn't done it on purpose. And he'd come back for him even when it would have been way easier to just leave him be. 

Only for a second he felt happy, but then he saw a glimpse of the remains of Merle's hand on the ground and grew angry again. He lowered his crossbow, still glaring at T-Dog and looked at Rick. At that second Rick looked relieved and lowered his gun too. The twins kept theirs pointed at Rick for another moment just to make sure, but then Connor lowered his gun and looked kinda relieved too. Murphy however stayed right where he was, gun pointed at Ricks head, glaring at him. Rick looked at him and rased his hands a little, trying to calm him. "Come on, no one has to get hurt, I was just protecting T." 

Murphy didn't react to his words at all. Everyone stood there for a while and looked at Murphy who seemed to be lost in his anger.

"Come on brother. That's enough, he lowered his gun already." Connor tried, but even he didn't get a reaction from his twin, who was almost shaking with anger now.

Daryl eyed the scenario warily and walked slowly next to Connor, and when it seemed like Murphy couldn't even hear what they were saying to him, he rolled his eyes. He walked besides Rick and showed him out of his way, then stepped before Murphy's gun. "Hey! Hello, 'm fine and 'm right here, alive. Ye can stop that bullshit now." Instantly when Daryl was the one in front of his gun and not Rick, Murphy lowered his weapon but still glared at the former sheriff. 

Connor raised an eyebrow in disbelief. It was the first time ever that someone else could get trough to his brother when he couldn't. He bit his lip and looked away, lost in thoughts.

Daryl then walked away from the twins rolling his eyes. "Good lord..." He muttered, clearly annoyed. He lowered his crossbow to the ground and then he knelt before his brothers hand and took the red rag from his pocket. He put in on the ground and took the hand to look at it. "I guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs..." He muttered when he looked at the hand. "uhh... ain't that a bitch..." He went on before laying the hand on the rag and then folding it. He took the little package and looked over the people he was with, eyes landing on Connor. He then walked to him and went for the backpack he was carrying, opening it and stuffing the hand inside it. Connor grimaced in disgust but wouldn't say anything.

"He must have used a tourniquet, maybe his belt. 'Be much more blood if he didn't." Daryl stated and explored the tiny puddle of blood on the ground. He started following the blood trail over the roof. Even if he knew that his brother was most likely dead, he stuffed the thought in the back of his mind and refused to believe what his own instincts were telling him. Merle _wasn't_ dead. He couldn't be.

Rick nodded at T to get Dales tools from the ground and then followed Daryl. Connor looked at Murphy, looking a little concerned. "Ye okay man?" He asked and leaned a little bit closer to his brother.

"Yeah." Murphy just said and still eyed Rick, like making sure that the ex cop wouldn't do anything stupid.

"Ye sure about that?" Connor asked and placed a hand on his twins shoulder. Murphy wouldn't look at him, but didn't shook his hand off either.

"He makes one move..." He whispered so that only Connor could hear.

"Yea I know, but dude, he's a good guy, he was just protecting one of his own."

"Yeah well i was protecting one of _mine_." Murphy answered and walked away from Connor to follow Daryl.

Connor looked after him for a moment. He was a bit stunned of his brother's reaction, sure Murphy was short-tempered and impulsive, but he's reaction still surprised him a bit. He'd never seen his brother care so much about someone so fast. He himself cared about Daryl too, but they had only just met, and he didn't even really know the guy. You had to know the person before they could _really_ become your family, right? Murphy sure didn't seem to think that, Connor had only seen that reaction on him when himself or their father had been in danger.

Daryl followed the blood trail to a door that lead inside the building. Merle must have kicked it open or done some other Rambo shit that he'd learned in the army to get in. No way he would've picked the lock with one hand while he was bleeding out, his head wouldn't have been in it and he wouldn't have been able to do it right. He entered the building with his bow up, ready to fire. Murphy came after him with his beretta in hand, securing his back while he looked for any sings of Merle.

He walked to the top of the stairs and peeked down, but he still couldn't see anything else but more droplets of blood. "Merle! Ye in here?" He yelled and started climbing down. Murphy followed him closely and the others came after them too, Connor in the front, eyeing his brothers.

When they reached the lower level, Murphy and Daryl entered a room that looked like it had been a conference room, while others searched some other rooms. There was a woman standing in the middle of the room facing away from them, and when they came in, she started growling and turned around. Her jaw was hanging loose and there was blood all over her face and clothes. Daryl grimaced in disgust and aimed at her head. With a loud zap she was down and the room fell quiet again. Daryl inspected the room for any sings of Merle while Murphy stayed in watch, but when he couldn't find anything they returned to the hallway. Rick and the others had secured few other rooms meanwhile.

They started walking across the building, Daryl and Rick in the front, Murphy and Connor following them closely, T and Glenn covering their backs. They came across two walkers that were already dead on the ground. Daryl leaned closer to one of them and Grinned a bit to himself. _Merle, ye tough motherfucker._ "Had 'nough in him to take out these two sons of bitches... One handed." He said trying to convince someone that Merle had a chance in surviving this, himself or the others, he didn't even know.

"Toughest asshole i ever met, my brother." He said while reloading his crossbow. "Feed 'im a hammer, he'd crap out nails." He went on. The twins grinned at that and looked at each other. Daryl clearly tried to keep up hope with that talk, and it was working for them at least, and hopefully for Daryl too. It was entirely possible that Merle was still alive, if he managed to cut off his own hand and put down too walkers after that, bleeding out and unarmed. He certainly sounded just as tough as Daryl claimed him to be.

And then of course Rick had to go and ruin it again. "Any man can pass out from blood loss, no matter how tough he is."

Daryl's grin faded away in a second and he looked down. The twins saw how Ricks words affected him, he seemed to lost hope again. Murphy became furious and actually would've attacked Rick if Connor hadn't been there to hold him back. " **What the fuck is yer problem?** " He yelled at Rick who looked a little surprised by his outburst. Connor was still holding him by his arms while he was trying to get loose so he could punch some sense in to Ricks stupid head. "The guy's brother just went missing, _because of ye_ i might add, and yer trying yer best to kill all hope he has with yer comments!"

All the guys just stared at him and Rick looked really taken aback by that. Daryl looked at Murphy a little surprised that again, he was defending him without a second thought. And Murphy was right, Rick really was being an asshole, but they really didn't have time for this if Rick was right and Merle _was_ passed out somewhere. 

He'd gotten the picture of the MacManus brothers pretty early, Murphy was the impulsive one and Connor was the calmer brother who apparently always had to keep his brother from exploding. When he thought about it, it was kinda funny. He was like the combination of the two, always keeping _his_ brother out of trouble (or trying at least), but at the same time, getting himself in trouble just as much, not with drugs or any shit like that, but fights and stuff.

"Hey relax, ain't that big of a deal, the man merely stated a fact." He tried to calm Murphy, even though he himself felt just as angry at Rick as his brother apparently felt, and again he moved to stand in front of him, looking him in the eye. "Relax dude." He placed a hand on Murphy's shoulder, but the second he felt him relax he took it off and moved further. Murphy calmed down by Daryl's words and shook off Connor's grip. He Looked at his twin and nodded a little, letting him know that they were okay, it was Rick he was mad at, not Connor. _I'm okay brother_. Connor let go of him and nodded back.

They carried on, following the blood trail and entered to an other room. "Merle!" Daryl tried again, eyeing the room warily, afraid of what they would find there. "We're not alone here, remember?" Rick tried to silence him and followed him inside. "He could be bleeding out, ye said so yerself." Daryl answered a bit annoyed.

There was some kind of stove in the room. On it was a lot of blood and Merle's belt. Daryl felt panicked when he still couldn't see his brother anywhere. Rick grabbed a piece of metal from the stove. It was covered in blood and some kind of burned stuff. All of them looked disgusted by it and Glenn spoke up. "What's that burned stuff?"

Rick took a closer look at it and grimaced. "Skin. He cauterized the stump."

Daryl looked at Rick and then at the burned skin on the metal. He felt horrible that Merle had gone through so much pain alone, with no one there to help him through it. Sure Merle had gone through very much pain in his life, as he had too, with their father (well, a step father apparently) being such an abusive drunk, but even with every slice of a belt, every punch and stab, every time he'd came to his room at night and... well everything had gone through with that bastard, he couldn't imagine the pain of cutting off your own arm and then cauterizing the wound without any pain medication (even though Merle had probably been high), it must have been excruciating. He suddenly felt guilty for not being there with him. For not coming to Atlanta with them. Not like he'd had any say in the matter, Shane had decided who'd gone and he'd told Daryl that he would be most useful if he went on a hunt to get some fresh food, which was true actually, but still, if he'd gone with them, Merle would still be here.

"I told ye he's tough, nobody can kill Merle, but Merle." He didn't even know if he believed that himself, but it had to be said so he wouldn't lose his mind.

"Don't take that on faith, he's lost a lot of blood." Rick was actually stupid enough to keep going with his comments. Murphy was just about to open his mouth to yell at him again when Daryl raised his hand at him to silence him and gave him a look that said _I got it, don't freak out again_. 

Murphy fell silent and nodded a little to Daryl, looking a little annoyed. The truth is, he couldn't quite explain it, why he felt so strong need to protect the guy. Clearly he could take care of himself just fine. There was so much different feelings about his new brother in his head that they all just mixed in to buzzing and it made his head spin, and he felt really annoyed for not being able to think straight. Connor had certainly noticed his strange acting and was eyeing him warily from time to time.

"Yeah? Didn't stop him from bustin' outta this death trap." Daryl answered to Rick and walked towards a broken window by the fire escape. they all followed him and then Glenn opened his mouth. "He left the building? Why the hell would he do that?"

Daryl glanced at him a little annoyed, and then bent down to look out from the window. "Why wouldn't he? He's out there alone, as far as he knows." Another wave of quilt rushed over him. "Doing what he's gotta be doing, survivin'." He walked away from the window and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Ye call that survivin'? Just wondering out on the streets maybe passing out? Now what are his odds out there?" T-Dog was stupid enough to open his mouth. That pushed Daryl over the edge. He'd felt his rage piling up inside him from the second he'd lowered his crossbow up on the roof, and now he was letting it all out. "No worse than bein' handcuffed and left to rot by _ye_ sorry pricks!" He let out rising his voice. T-Dog looked away feeling ashamed of himself yet again.

Connor felt Murphy tense beside him and he was starting to feel a little bit angry himself too. He glared at Rick and T, and honestly he thought that if Murphy would explode now, he'd let him. Maybe he would even join in to the fight.

"Ye couldn't kill 'im, ain't so worried about some dumb dead bastard." Daryl hissed at Rick, shifting his weight from one foot to another.

"What about a thousand dumb dead Bastards? Different story?" Rick said clearly challenging him, looking him straight in the eye. 

"Why don't ye take a tally? Do what ye want, I'mma go get 'im." Daryl hissed back at him.

By now Murphy was almost smoking out of his ears. He'd clenched his fists tightly and he was shaking a little. Connor felt Murphy's anger caught up to him too and was glaring at Rick, biting his lips not to say anything.

When Daryl tried to pass Rick to go out from the window, Rick put his hand to his chest and pushed him a little. "Daryl, wait."

" **Get yer hands off me**!" " **Get off 'im**!" Daryl and Murphy growled simultaneously and when Daryl Backed away from Rick, at the same time Murphy jumped him, pressing him against the wall and pulling his gun on him and pressing it firmly against his chin. Connor raised his beretta towards T before he could do anything to help Rick. All of them Froze for a minute and Glenn backed away a little bit, showing that he wasn't a threat. Daryl Glared Rick for a moment, enjoying the look on his face that Murphy's gun gave him. Then he walked really close to his face and looked him in the eye. "Ye can't stop me."

Rick tried to keep his breathing steady and glanced towards Murphy who was keeping him in place with his gun against his cheek and his hand against his chest.

"I... i don't blame ye, he's family, i get that... I went through hell to find mine. I know exactly how you feel... all of you." He said warily and looked at all of the three bothers.

Daryl tried to steady his breath a little bit and again Rick's words hit him hard. Images of Merle being passed out somewhere out there filled his head and he turned away, wiping the back of his hand over his eyes.

"He can't get far with that injury, we could help you check a few blocks but only if we keep a level head." Rick went on as a peace offering.

Connor gave T-Dog a look that said _Don't try anything_ , and lowered his weapon. Then he turned to Murphy and walked beside him. "Come on Murph, calm down." 

"I told ye, he tries _anythin'_..." Murphy answered him and Glared at Rick, not moving his gun an inch.

Daryl felt overwhelmed by all this. He shifted his weight from one foot to another and finally exploded, but not at Rick.

" **Cut out that shit ye stupid mick, I don't need ye to protect me**!" He yelled at Murphy and turned to face them. Murphy looked at him stunned for a moment and then lowered his gun quickly.

" **Fuck ye! I was just trying to help ye**!" He spat at Daryl and they seemed to forget the other people around them.

Connor rolled his eyes frustrated at the situation and walked a little further from the group wiping his hands across his face with a loud sigh. Then he lit a cigarette and leaned against a table and just waited the shouting match to be over.

The yelling went on a while, but after a few "Dumbass redneck"s from Murphy and a few "Annoying Mick"s from Daryl, they both had enough. It was Daryl who threw the first punch, which made Murphy back up a pit. He felt his jaw with his hand and glared at Daryl. Connor had stepped a little closer now, eyeing warily at the situation, wondering if he'd had to go between them. Everybody else just stood there, quite surprised about the fight.

After a few seconds, Murphy jumped at Daryl and hit him hard. Before he could throw another punch, Rick grabbed him and pushed him against the wall with his hand twisted back. He hadn't seen the first punches coming, but the third one was pretty obvious and the old cop inside him made him stop the fight. He pressed Murphy against the wall and was just about to speak up when he felt a pinch of an arrow in his back.

Connor was just as surprised as everybody else that at the same second that Rick had pushed Murphy against the wall, Daryl had pulled his Crossbow on him, to protect Murphy or to fight some more, he didn't know. 

Daryl however had a pretty good idea of what that was about. He knew that he wouldn't _really_ hurt his brother, a few punches were nothing, but when Rick grabbed him, he felt some sort of protection mode over power him. He hated the thought that he actually cared a little bit about that annoying mick, even if he'd known him only couple hours, but he couldn't deny the connection he'd felt to the guy the moment he'd seen him walk through those bushes at the quarry.

"Get yer hands off him. Right now." He hissed really slowly and pushed the crossbow harder against Rick's back.

Rick slowly let go of Murphy and raised his hands a little. Daryl glared at him for a moment and then backed away, walking towards Connor and snatching the cigarette from his hand. Connor didn't protest, the archer clearly needed it. They all waited for the situation to calm down a bit before anyone said anything.

"My suggestion is that ye three get the Guns, and we look for Merle for a while. Meet up at the camp later." Connor spoke up after a few minutes had passed.

"I don't know if it's a good idea to split up in the city." Rick said and looked at Connor, ignoring the snort from Murphy and a "pff" from Daryl. Connor walked to him and pulled him a little further away from the group.

"Look, i know yer the leader and all that shit, but have ye looked around lately. Those two are seconds away from shooting someone. And right now ye'r the target of their anger. I think it'll be best if we look for Merle and cool off a bit. Me 'n Murphy have guns and Daryl has his crossbow, well be fine. Ye get the guns and go back to camp and we'll meet ye there after those two hothead's have cooled down. And hey, maybe we even find Merle in the process."

Rick scratched his head and looked a bit uncomfortable with the idea, but gave in after a while.

"Fine. Watch your backs and don't fire a shot if it's not absolutely necessary. We'll meet up at the camp at sundown. Don't do anything stupid."

Connor nodded and then walked towards Daryl and Murphy who were leaning to a table side by side, glaring at Rick.

"Alright ye two rays of sunshine, let's go." He said with a grin and got two simultaneous middle fingers in return. He had to chuckle at that a bit, it was hilarious how similar the two of them apparently were.

\-------------------

They must have searched like a thousand alleys by the time the day was getting to a point where Connor decided they should start heading back, or that's what it felt to Daryl anyway. He felt frustrated that even when they'd searched what must have been something like four hours, they still hadn't found a single sing of Merle anywhere. It was like he'd vanished to a thin air after he'd climbed through that window.

"He ain't in the city no more. We'd found 'im already..." He mumbled while searching the ground for blood or any kind of trail. The twins nodded quietly but either of them wouldn't say anything. 

All three of them had been pretty quiet after the fight in the building, Murphy and Daryl most of all. Connor had tried to lighten the mood with occasional joke, but he hadn't gotten the reaction he'd wanted so he'd stopped that too, and it'd been the first time any of them spoke in a long time, maybe couple hours, when Connor had announced that they should get back.

"He'd be wise 'nough to camp in the woods, further from the city without so much walkers around, maybe he found a cabin or somethin'..." Daryl went on, mumbling mostly to himself. "Let's head back, get our stuff from the camp and sleep on it. I'll pick up the trail tomorrow. 'M done with those people anyway..." He said and the twins could hear a little annoyance in that last sentence.

"Yeah, we'll find 'im tomorrow." Connor reassured him and adjusted the weight of the backpack he was carrying. Daryl glanced him quickly and maybe even gave a little smile.

They started walking towards the edge of the city to find a vehicle they so they could get to camp faster, all of them were pretty tired after the day they'd had and walking back sounded like too much effort. They zigzagged between alleys and took down an occasional walkers, and were getting pretty close to their destination when Daryl, who was in the front, raised his hand in a silent gesture to stop and be quiet. He pressed against the wall they were behind and glanced around it. The twins pressed against the wall, following Daryl's lead and when they stilled, they could hear it. The horrible moans that walkers let out. There must have been about a dozen of them, gathering from the sounds. Daryl looked back at them and raised a finger to his lips, then pointed back to where they came from. Connor who was in the back, quietly turned around and headed back, they jogged back to an alley they had just come from.

"How many?" Connor whispered when they'd stopped running. "About a dozen, maybe more. Ain't no way we get through unnoticed, and there's too many of them to fight."

"Another distraction?" Connor asked and smirked a bit. Daryl rolled his eyes remembering the crazy idea the irishman had had last lime. "Nah, we go around them, ain't no way ye put our asses in danger _again_."

"Oh screw ye, it worked like a charm the last time!" Connor hissed.

Daryl didn't bother answering to that. Instead he rolled his eyes and peeked around the corner to see if the path was clear. He raised his hand in a gesture for the twins to follow him and slowly started walking again, they'd turned left from the next alley the last time, but instead he walked straight this time to avoid the group of walkers they'd seen. He thought that if they just walked straight ahead few blocks and then turned left, they would manage to sneak past it unnoticed. 

They tried to keep as quiet as they could, which was pretty easy for Daryl since he'd been practicing to keep quiet his whole life. When you were hunting, the key to whole thing was learning how to move without making a sound so the prey wouldn't hear you coming. Hunting was the reason he'd learned to keep quiet, but he'd gotten to practice it a whole lot at home too, trying not to let his father know he was home to avoid the beatings and other things.

But the twins were a whole lot different in that area. They made a lot of sound while walking, their steps were loud and they would occasionally bump in to something or kick something that made way too much noise for Daryl's liking.

They walked slowly between buildings for a while and were almost at the edge of the city where they would reach the railroads and have a better eye on their surroundnigs when they heard moaning again. Daryl stilled at the second he heard it which made Murphy bump straight in to him and let out a curse. "Hey, what the fu-" He was silenced by Daryl who pressed his hand on his mouth and pressed him against the wall. He stared straight in to Murphy's eyes and glared him a bit, then he jerked his head lightly to the way the sound was coming. Murphy widened his eyes in understanding and gave a tiny nod. Daryl took his hand away from his mouth and peeked warily around the corner. 

Four walkers were staggering in the alley they were headed. He looked back at the twins and raised four fingers to give them a number of how many they were dealing with. The twins nodded and grabbed their knifes. Daryl lifted his crossbow and moved to the corner so he could take one of the walkers out.

With a zap, what had once been a beautiful young woman fell to the ground. The other geeks noticed something was up and turned to face Daryl who threw his crossbow to his back and took out his knife as well. The three of them came around the corner, each of them walking towards their own targets. They all went down pretty easily and the twins grinned to each other. "Well done, my dear brothers." Connor announced while wiping the blade of his knife to the shirt of the walker he'd just killed. Murphy grinned and Daryl snorted while pulling his arrow out from the woman's head.

They walked few minutes before they reached the railroads, and when they did, Connor spoke up.

"Now let's find us that vehicle and get the hell out of here."

\---------------------

When they reached the camp, it was already dark. They had found some kind of a maintenance car near the railroads which Daryl had been able to hot wire, and there had even been enough gas for them to drive back to camp, which was pretty lucky considering the state the world was in nowadays.

They jumped out of the car and walked towards the campfire where the people were sitting and eating. When they were noticed, Shane and Lori were the first people to jump up and run towards them.

"Where's Rick?" Was the first thing Lori let out when she reached them.

"They're not back yet?" Connor asked with a frown.

"You split up? Why the hell would you do that?" Shane asked angrily.

"We went to find Merle, and they went for the guns. The deal was we meet back here before sunset." Connor said and was starting to worry a bit.

"Wait, you.. you gotta go back, we can't just _leave_ them out there! What if something happens?" Lori sounded really panicked and was pacing around, hands on her hips.

"Hey hey hey, relax, _of course_ we're gonna go back for them, but we can't just go runnin' around in the dark, we gotta plan this!" Shane tried to calm her, rubbing his head nervously.

Connor was just about to speak up when a loud scream startled them all.

Then all hell broke loose.

\--------------------------

**Ireland**  
**Year 1972**

 

_at 9:38 Pm little boy's cries filled the room. Annabelle wiped sweat from her face with a towel that was handed to her and let out a long sigh. She leaned her head back to the pillow and closed her eyes for a moment, only to open them when she heard a woman speaking._

_"There's someone here who wants to meet ye." The nurse smiled and handed the baby to Annabelle, who eagerly took him in her arms. The baby wouldn't stop crying even when he got to his mothers arms. "Hey hey hey, what's wrong baby boy? It's all right now, mama's here." She tried to calm her but the boy wouldn't stop screaming._

_"Come on Connor, everything's okay." She said and caressed the baby's cheek._

_Her time with her newborn son was cut short by another contraction. She grinned and handed her son to the nurse._

_"Okay Annabelle, It's time to push again." The doctor said and put on a fresh pair of gloves. Annabelle nodded with a pain filled grin and adjusted her position a bit. And when the doctor gave her a nod, she pushed._

_After a few minutes of pushing, breathing and then pushing again, at 9:40 Pm there was another cry. She let out a relieved sigh and relaxed again. The nurse took the baby to clean him up a bit and when he was clean and wrapped in blanked, she handed him to his mother._

_Annabelle took him happily and stroked his cheek. "Hi Murphy, i'm yer mama."_

_Murphy wouldn't stop crying either. She frowned a bit and tried to calm him, but nothing would work. Then she had an idea._

_"Can ye bring Connor here as well?" She asked the nurse who nodded and went to get the other crying baby. Annabelle adjusted the baby in her arms so that she could take the other one as well._

_When the nurse handed her the other baby and she held them close together, they silenced and tried to move even closer._

_"See now, ye just missed each other." Annabelle said and smiled lovingly._

\---------------------

**Georgia**  
**Year 1972**  
**The same exact time**

 

_Meredith gasped for air and let out a pain filled whimper. Then she pushed with every ounce of straight that was in her body. Then she breathed for a while, and then pushed again. It went on for a while, until she heard the doctor speak._

_"Wait wait wait, Meredith, don't push!"_

_She froze for a second, too shocked and in too much pain to do anything. Then she understood the meaning of the words._

_"What's wrong?" She asked panicking and leaned in a little bit, like trying to see what was happening._

_"The umbilical cord is wrapped around his neck!" The doctor explained. "I need to get it off or he'll suffocate. It's extremely important that you do not push now!" He went on and Meredith threw her head back and squeezed her eyes shut. She was terrified and in so much pain, and she felt that her body was telling her to push even when she couldn't. She held her breath and felt the doctor doing something. After a moment, the doctor gave her an okay to push again._

_At 9:38 Pm her son was born, but she couldn't hear him cry. The doctor grabbed the child and rushed him to the back of the room to some kind of operating table. One of the nurses went to help him and Meredith felt more scared than she'd ever felt in her life._

_"What's wrong with him?" She yelled panicking, and leaned closer to see, but the only thing she could see was the doctors back. The other nurse came by her side and held her hand._

_"The baby's heart stopped when he couldn't breathe during the birth, they're trying to resuscitate him."_

_She looked at the nurse in horror and then at the doctor again._

_"Wh.. why isn't he... what... " She couldn't produce a clear sentence at the moment._

_"They're doing everything they can." The nurse tried to calm her and squeezed her hand a bit._

_After a moment of sheer panic, at 9:40 Pm she heard her son cry for the first time._


	4. We Have To Leave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, i am soooo so so so sorry that it took me this long to update! I have been out of town for a while, and then my BF moved in with me and blaah blaah basically real life got in the way of my virtual life and i haven't been able to do much anything with my computer, let alone write anything. But now everything's calmed down a bit and i was able to finish this chapter! I'll try to get the next chapter done a little quicker but i don't promise any super fast updates since i went back to work today and that's gonna take some of my time too.  
> I hope you enjoy this chap though!

It was like someone had hit the fast forward button when it all went down. First Amy had let out the horrible, pain filled scream when the walker had torn into the flesh of her arm with its teeth, and then a half second later there were more screams, all coming from camp. The walkers were everywhere and it quickly turned into a chaos when half of the people were running away from the flesh eating monsters and the other half, the combat ready people, were running towards them in an effort to protect the camp. The sounds of gunfire combined with the screams of people getting torn to shreds were deafening.

The brothers had quickly pulled out their weapons and joined the fight. The twins working with their berettas and Daryl with his crossbow, the three of them made a good team, all of them securing each others backs without even thinking about it, like it was instinct. They moved through the camp killing as much walkers as they could with the arrows and bullets they had within reach, and then switching in to knives when they ran out. 

Soon after all of it had started, they could see a glimpse of Rick, T and Glenn appearing from the woods with the bag of guns, starting to kill the walkers as they made their way back to the camp.

Somewhere to his right Daryl could hear Lori shout his sons name in horror, and when he turned around he could see that the little idiot had ran away from his mother to get to his father. The boy ran across the camp area towards his father, and he was apparently so naive and so happy to see his father alive, that he couldn't see the walker that was making it's way towards him. And the boy was running almost right in his arms. Daryl acted in a heartbeat. He bolted towards the boy, grabbing him in his arms and avoiding the walkers staggering hands by an inch. Carl was somewhat scrawny and light, so that he could easily lift him without too much effort.

Murphy noticed the change in the archers capability to protect himself, now that he was holding on to the child, and quickly came to his aid, stabbing the walker in the back of it's head. Daryl gave him a little nod and Murphy answered with an identical nod before he returned to killing the walkers. By then, Rick and Lori both had reached to them and Lori grabbed Carl into her arms and clung to him. Rick hugged them both tightly and then looked up to face Daryl to thank him, but he was already on his way to kill some more walkers. He was still a little bit angry at the ex-cop because of Merle, and he didn't want to hear what he had to say right now. And besides, there was still a lot of walkers roaming around the camp, attacking people and he needed to help Connor and Murphy who were surrounded by a tiny herd at the moment.

There was about a dozen walkers around them and the twins were having trouble killing them while they were all trying to grab them and bite them. They were back to back in the middle of the herd and when Daryl reached them, they were about to be overpowered. Murphy pressed himself tightly against Connors back and grabbed one of the walkers by it's blood and vomit covered shirt, holding it in place while jamming his knife through it's temple.

"There's too many of them!" He yelled and stabbed another walker in the head.

"We're gonna be fine Murph!" Connor tried to reassure his brother, but he didn't really know if he himself even believed it. He kicked a walker in the gut when it was getting a little too close and stabbed another. They kept going, stabbing the walkers as fast as they could but they kept coming too fast for them to handle on their own. 

Daryl ran as fast as he could towards the twins, while killing the few walkers that got in his way. He saw how the geeks were surrounding his brothers and he felt his heart stop when he saw one grab Murphy by his shirt. Neither of the twins had time to process what was happening before it was too late to stop it. Murphy lost his balance and fell to the ground with the walker on top of him. He tried to push it off of him but it was too strong and it had it's fingers tangled in his sleeve and hair. He let out a pain filled yelp when the walker pulled his hair tightly and everything started to blur around him when he tried to struggle free from it's grip. He heard Connor yell his name and then another voice, his own but a little harsher, _Daryl's_ voice shout his name too from somewhere further. He struggled for a moment, trying not to let the walker's teeth sink into the flesh of his neck, and then he saw the other walkers fall to the ground from the corner of his eye.

Suddenly the weight of the corpse was lifted off of him when Daryl grabbed it by it's shirt and pulled it away from the younger twin, then stabbed it repeatedly in it's head. He felt such rage towards it after fearing for Murphy's life, and he felt like the anger was controlling his body, making him mutilate the walkers face with his knife. Why he felt so angry at the walker for trying to bite Murphy, he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Connor immediately ran towards Murphy and knelt beside him, running his hands around his body to check him for bites or scratches. "Did it bite you?" He asked almost hysterically, voice shaking.

"No 'm fine, are ye okay?" Murphy answered while getting to a sitting position. He hugged Connor tightly and felt his brother nod slightly against his shoulder, letting him know that he was alright too. 

Daryl had by then stopped his rampage towards the dead walker and was now watching the twins cling to each other from further. He chewed his thumb for a while and then shook his head angrily. He walked closer to his brothers, rolling his eyes at them for being such pussies.

"Come on ye two idiots, yer gonna end up walker-lunch if ye don't pay attention." He said and turned around to see if any walkers were near by. There were still about a dozen geeks staggering around the camp and most of the men were still fighting them, but some of them had already gone to their families, leaving the others by their selves. He rolled his eyes and turned to the twins to yell at them, but much to his surprise, they were already on their feet and right behind him, ready for action. 

He nodded at them and then headed towards the nearest walker with his knife in hand.

After the last walker dropped to the ground by Connors knife, all of them just stood there in silence, looking down on the horrible sight of the camp filled with dead people. 

"We need to leave." Shane spoke up after a while and looked at each and every one who was standing there in the eye. "This quarry ain't safe no more. More walkers could've heard the gunfire. We need to take care of our dead, pack up our stuff and go." He went on.

There was no answer to that, just silence. Shane looked at Rick and then at the three brothers standing close to each other, like they were still watching over one and other.

"No more pointless runs. We need to stick together. We go on a run only when it's absolutely necessary."

"Ye sayin' this was a pointless run?" Daryl suddenly spoke up tilting his head a little, starting to get worked up by Shane's indifference for his brother. He stepped a bit closer to the ex cop, which made the twins behind him instantly shift a little closer to him, remembering the scene from earlier that day when Shane had overpowered Daryl.

"Yeah." Shane said and stepped a bit closer to the archer, rising his chin a little and that way looking down on him, clearly challenging him a bit.

Daryl gave him a death-glare, squeezing his hands in fists and then taking a step closer, but before he could get yet into another fight that day, Connor stepped a little closer to him, placing his hand on the hunters shoulder, and spoke up.

"Let's all just calm down and rest for a bit, we all need to get some sleep and think this through."

That earned a few agreeing nods and people started to make their ways into their tents. Everybody was so tired and devastated about the turn their evening had taken that they figured sleeping would help a bit. Soon it was just the brothers, Shane and Rick standing out there in a circle, and by the RV Andrea and Dale were knelt over Amy who had been the first one to get bitten as far as they knew. The men standing in a circle all looked at them for a while, and then with a tired sigh Shane spoke up once again rubbing his head.

"I think we should take care of the dead now, sleep on it and head out in the morning. I was thinking Fort Benning."

Rick nodded. "Let's do that, we can discuss our destination later. I thought that we could try the CDC. Maybe they have a cure for this thing..." He said trailing off a bit at the end of the sentence, looking over the camp and all the dead people.

"Rick we need to think this trough, the CDC's at the edge of the city, i think it might be too dangerous. We got women and children here, and if some shit goes down, they ain't trained for a battle. I mean, you saw how they got earlier, Carl would've gotten bit if it weren't for Daryl." Shane said with a long sigh and then glanced towards Daryl, maybe even looking a bit grateful.

Daryl rolled his eyes and let out a tired sigh. Then he turned around and started pacing a little, rubbing his hands over his face. His head was hurting from being so tired after the day he'd had. 

All the physical stuff was nothing, he was used to running around in the woods all day before _and_ after the turn. And all the fighting, hell, he was used to that too, growing up with Merle and his father around. It was the emotional stuff that was exhausting. All the fear, pain, guilt and anger he'd felt through the day, mixed with the happiness, and the feeling of the belonging that came with the twins had taken all of his strength, and he had a feeling that as soon as he told the two cops about his plan to leave, it would quickly escalate in to a fight and he felt like he couldn't take any more of this feelings shit today.

"I'mma start takin' care of the dead, no way of knowing when they decide to come back around for a second round. But _ye_ ladies go ahead, talk about yer feelings some more." He mumbled and took out his knife, heading towards one of the bodies laying on the ground.

The twins looked after him for a moment, sensing that he needed to be on his own for a while and deciding to give him some alone time before going to help him with the corpses. Connor looked at the two cops and gave a tired sigh.

"We ain't gonna come with ye tomorrow... Where ever ye decide to go." He said and rubbed the back of his neck.

Rick raised an eyebrow and looked at him curiously. "You don't have to leave, you've earned your place in the group by helping us earlier. There's safety in numbers, I don't think you'll last very long by just the two of you." He said and gestured towars the twins.

"Us and Daryl. We're gonna go looking for Merle." Connor said and glanced towards the archer who was currently dragging a body into a pile he'd started to make by the edge of the camp. Rick looked at Daryl too, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh..."

"Yeah." Murphy said a little provokingly and looked at Rick in the eye. He was still feeling a bit angry towards the ex cop after how he'd acted earlier, and the urge to punch him was slowly coming back, so he turned around and walked away from the them to go help Daryl.

Daryl was just dragging another body to the pile and looked like he was lost in thoughts. Murphy walked slowly towards him and then grabbed the corpse Daryl was dragging, by it's legs. He didn't say anything but just looked at Daryl in the eye for a moment, regretting the punch he'd thrown earlier that day. It had given the archer an angry looking bruise and a black eye. Daryl looked back at him for a second and then dropped his gaze to the ground. He too felt kinda bad for the fight that had left them both with bruises on their faces. They stabbed a few bodies in the head and dragged them to the pile before Murphy decided to break the silence.

"We could leave now." He said remembering how tense Daryl had gotten when they'd arrived back to camp and back to the people. "We could just grab yer stuff and make a camp somewhere near the city and start looking for Merle in the morning."

Daryl looked up from the ground to face Murphy with tired eyes. He looked like all the fight had left from him, and when he nodded a little, looking relieved about the idea and even gave a tiny, barely noticeable smile, Murphy knew things between them were fine and there were no grudges held either way about the fight earlier. Daryl honestly thought that if he had to spend more time with the people from the camp now, he would probably explode first, fight with someone, and then just fall to the ground from exhaustion. He looked at the body of a woman they were carrying and adjusted his position a little, then looked Murphy in the eye.

"Yeah we could find shelter from the woods, maybe a cabin or somethin'. Set up base somewhere and hold up there while we look for Merle near the city."

Murphy nodded at that and looked at the other men who had started to stab and carry the corpses to a pile as well. 

\--------------------

I't took about a half an hour to clear out all of the bodies, and when they were done, all of them were exhausted. Connor and Murphy were having a casual conversation about their past life in Ireland with their dad while they were cleaning their knives from blood. Daryl was sitting on a log before the burnt out campfire, cleaning his knife and arrows. he didn't want to take part in any conversation right now, he was too tired, but he still listened carefully the conversation the twins were having with smiles on their faces. He wanted to observe them as much as he could to get to know them, to know if they were to be trusted. 

Even though, as much as he tried to tell himself that he didn't trust them, he knew that from the moment they had walked through those bushes earlier that day, he'd trusted them blindly. He hated that he did, but he couldn't deny that it felt refreshing to actually trust someone, even if it was involuntary. He'd never really trusted anyone other than his mother. Sure he trusted Merle to have his back, but that was about it. In all other areas of life he was untrustworthy. 

He looked at the twins from the corner of his eye for a while and then put his knife and arrows away. He leaned his elbows against his knees and buried his face in his hands with a loud sigh, the headache getting worse by the second. The twins noticed his silent protest to just standing around and talking. They looked at each other knowingly and then walked to Daryl and sat on the log beside him.

"Ye okay?" Connor asked warily, sensing the archers mood. Of course he knew that Daryl most certainly wasn't alright, but he felt like he had to say something, and that was all he could think of in that moment. He felt a little bit guilty about calling off the search for Merle earlier that day. He knew Daryl would've wanted to keep looking, but they'd made a deal with Rick to meet up, and even though he didn't care for the man much, he'd gathered from his actions to go back for Merle that he probably would've gone back to look for them too, and he didn't want to put anyone in danger because of them.

Daryl shrugged and wouldn't say anything. He ran his hand through his hair and then reached for his pocket to get a pack of cigarettes taking one for himself and then offering the pack for the twins too. Connor took two of them and lit them, then handed one to Murphy and offered the lighter to Daryl. The archer took it and lit his cigarette as well.

"Ye want to leave now, don't ye?" Murphy asked and looked at the burnt out campfire.

"Yeah." Daryl answered to him almost whispering. The twins nodded simultaneously and got up.

"Let's get yer stuff then." Connor said and searched Daryl's tent with his eyes. Daryl stood up as well and started to head towards his tent which was quite far from the others, near the treeline and close to the bushes Connor and Murphy had hid before. The twins had to smile a little at the sight of their brothers camp. He had quite a big tent and there was a lot of different kinds of hunting equipment in the tent, all in a perfect order. The tent was clean and organised and everything was packed neatly in a few bags, ready to grab if he needed to leave in a hurry. In the corner of the tent was two sleeping bags rolled tightly into a tiny rolls. Daryl started to gather a few items that weren't packed away. Murphy chuckled a bit at the sight of the tent, which earned an angry glare from Daryl.

"Sorry man, it's just... i mean... how is yer tent so clean?" He said, trying to hold back the chuckles.

Daryl glared a him for a moment and then carried on packing his things. "Why not?" He growled silently and looked everywhere else but the twins.

"Dude, seriously. Ye look like ye haven't showered in a year, and ye ask us why it's odd that yer tent looks like the queen of England is coming to visit." Connor grinned at the archer who rolled his eyes at him.

"Comes in handy to know where all yer stuff is and it's easier to grab everythin' if yer in a hurry." He answered after a while and was quiet for another moment after that. "And Merle's military." He added then and looked at the two sleeping bags in the corner, thinking about his brothers obsession to keep everything neat. Sometimes it really drove Daryl crazy how everything needed to be in such a tight order, but he had to admit, it really _did_ come in handy when you were living in the apocalypse where you usually did have to leave in a hurry. He turned his back to the twins and kept packing, smiling a little to the memory of his brothers very uncharacteristic habit.

The twins looked at the ground awkwardly and Connor bit his lower lip. He felt bad for Daryl. He must have taken it pretty hard that they hadn't found Merle today, and everything in his tent seemed to remind him of his lost brother. Just when he was about to say something to comfort the archer, Daryl spoke up.

"Ye guys have any kind of vehicle?" He had finished packing and moved the stuff out of the tent so that he could fold it. The twins stepped outside as well and Murphy chewed his lips. "Nah our car broke down a few miles back earlier today. Ye?"

"Yea i got a pick-up, and Merle has a bike." Daryl said while folding the tent and then stuffing it inside his bag. He pointed at a Blue-Grey pick-up truck and a motorcycle that were parked near the other vehicles at the edge of the camp. "One of ye can drive the car." He said and handed one of the bags to Murphy, who took it and headed towards the car with it. Connor took one bag from the ground and Daryl the one with the tent and the hunting equipment in it. "Ye know, i can drive a motorcycle... if ye want to drive yer own car..." Connor said and smirked a bit while they were walking towards the cars and Murphy who was sitting at the back of the pick-up, smoking a cigarette.

"Pfft." Was Daryl's response along with an eye-roll and a tiny smirk.

"What?" Connor asked and chuckled a bit.

"Dream on, leprechaun." Daryl chuckled a bit too. Connor smirked and nudged him a little with his elbow. He felt good about getting the archer to smile a little and being able to lighten the mood a bit. It had been an emotional day to all of them and it did good to joke around a little.

"What's up with ye two?" Murphy asked smirking a little himself after he saw the change in Daryl's mood when he and Connor reached the vehicles.

"Oh nothin', just discussin' about who get's to ride the bike." Connor answered and laughed a bit when Daryl showed him playfully with his elbow while placing the bags in the back of the pick-up.

"Ain't no discussion." He said and rolled his eyes at them, trying to look annoyed, and failing at it when he couldn't fight the smirk.

"Oh come on! That thing looks cool as hell, ye gotta let us try!" Murphy tired to beg and even tried to give Daryl a puppy eye look. Daryl rolled his eyes at that and snatched the cigarette from Murphy's hand, giving him an evil smirk.

"Ain't gonna happen."

"Dude, come on-" Murphy tried to continue the begging but was interrupted by Rick who was currently walking towards them. "Hey!"

Murphy looked at him for a second and it was obvious how his mood changed in a heart beat. He got up from his spot and walked little further from them rubbing his eyes with an angry sigh.

Rick ignored the younger twin's reaction and looked at Connor and Daryl instead.

"You leavin' right now?" He asked and frowned a bit.

Daryl nodded and chewed his thumbnail. "Ain't gonna waste any more time here."

"We're gonna try and find some kind of shelter closer the city. Start looking for Merle in the morning." Connor gave a little more satisfying answer and scratched the back of his head. Daryl leaned against the car and blew out smoke with a long sigh and then threw the cigarette away.

"Yeah so we gonna go or what?" He asked Connor and ignored Rick completely. He started heading towards the motorcycle but was stopped by Rick who placed a hand to his shoulder.

"Daryl wait a sec."

The archer froze for a second and glared at Rick from the corner of his eye.

"I just wanted to thank you. For saving Carl." Rick continued and let go of his shoulder. He looked Daryl in the eye and there was genuine gratefulness showing in his face.

It got Daryl off guard. He'd expected there to be a fight about them leaving right now, but he could see in Rick's eyes that he was serious about thanking him. It felt weird, he usually never got any "Thank you"s from his actions, weather he earned them or not. He chewed his lips and looked at Rick for a while. Then gave a tiny nod and scratched his head little awkwardly.

"Ain't a big deal, anyone would've done the same."

Rick raised an eyebrow, surprised about Daryl's modesty. He sighed a little and smiled. 

"Well it wasn't anyone, it was you. And i'm grateful."

Daryl smiled lightly and little awkwardly and proceeded to get to his bike, to get out of the situation. Connor chuckled a bit and shook his head. It was funny how Daryl was such a fearless hunter and knew exactly what he was doing when handling the walkers but when it came to people and normal conversation, he seemed to be lost. He looked after him for a moment and smiled to himself.

"I figure i can't stop you from leaving." Rick pulled him out of his thoughts and stepped a little closer to the older twin.

"I guess ye can't." Connor said still looking at Daryl for a moment and then turning to face Rick.

"Well if you change your mind, here, channel 40." Rick handed him a walkie talkie.

Connor took it and looked at it for a second. "Thank ye... But if we find Merle... The offer still stand?" He'd gathered that his older brother didn't quite get along with anyone in the group besides Daryl, and after what they'd done to him, intentionally or not, it would probably be even harder for him to live in peace with them.

Rick scratched the back of his neck and glanced at Daryl warily. Then he looked at Connor and leaned a little forward. "I think you and i both know that he probably doesn't want to come back."

Connor gave a tiny nod and glanced at Daryl. He knew that if they found Merle, they would probably never come back to these people. In someway, he felt bad about it. He knew that there was safety in numbers, and the best defense against the walkers was people. And when they had first walked in to the camp with Murphy, he'd hoped that once they'd reunited Daryl and Merle, they could live together as part of the group.

"But if he does, i think we can make it work." Rick said after a moment of silence, still sounding a little unsure.

Connor gave a little unsure smile and glanced at his brothers who were standing by Merle's bike, talking about something, probably about the bike, gathering they were gesturing towards it frequently while talking. He felt happy for a moment, seeing the two of them engaging in such a normal conversation and not looking so tired and tense. He really hoped that everything would work out, that they would find Merle alive and that he'd be willing to find this group again. Rick's words gave him a little reassurance, they wouldn't be turned away if they would find them again, they'd be welcome even with Merle. "Thank ye."

Rick nodded and looked at the two brothers standing by the bike too.

"I hope ye find what yer looking for, where ever ye go." Connor said and patted Rick's shoulder. Rick nodded and smiled. "I hope you do too. Good luck, stay safe."

"Ye too. Keep the group safe." Connor said and nodded. "Come on fellas, let's go."

Daryl and Murphy looked up from their conversation and nodded simultaneously. Murphy walked straight to the car without even glancing towards Rick and climbed in to the passenger seat. Daryl nodded at Rick and started his bike. Then sat on the saddle and threw his crossbow to his back. Rick nodded back and looked at Connor once more. He patted his upper arm as a goodbye and stepped back a little. Connor nodded and Climbed in to the drivers seat, starting the car.

Rick stepped further away and watched the brothers drive away from the quarry. He sighed and scratched the back of his head. He felt really guilty about Merle and hoped with all his heart that Daryl would find his brother alive.

 

\-----------------

 

**Georgia  
Year 1992**

_"Please, don't feed the birds!" Merle yelled and laughed, while Daryl was trying to climb the stairs of their house to get upstairs to their room. His big brother stood at the end of the stairs and didn't move a muscle to help him, instead offered him help with his kind words, calling him a pussy and other various names._

_"Oh what's the matter Darleena, that all you got in ye?" He mocked while Daryl struggled. He'd just got out from the hospital, and had a lot of pain medication in him witch made it hard to concentrate. Also the cast around his leg didn't make it any easier to get to the top of the stairs. "Throw away that purse and climb!"_

_"Fuck ye!" Daryl howled when a wave of pain went through his leg. The pain medication didn't exactly help as much as he'd hoped, but he was used to pain, and knew how to power through it. He gritted his teeth and pulled himself to the next step._

_"Come on, don't be like that! I'm on yer side!" Merle said with a laugh and rested his hands on his hips. He tilted his head a little and grinned when Daryl squeezed his eyes shut and lowered his head to get through another wave of pain. "Yeah? Since when?" He mumbled through the pain and gripped the railing harder._

_"Hell, since the day ye were born, baby brother. Somebody had to look after yer worthless ass." Merle answered and almost sounded a little bit hurt by Daryl's question._

_Daryl looked at him for a second and almost,_ almost _felt guilty for his words, until the pain went through his leg and he felt angry again. "Ye never took care of me, ye talk a big game but yer never there. Hell, ye ain't helpin' now. Some things never change." He pulled himself up another step and glared at his brother._

_"I'll tell ye what... i'm helping just the same amount that there was bullshit to yer chupacabra story." Merle said with a grin._

_Daryl had been hunting the day before, and he knew he'd seen a chupacabra in the woods. He'd told about it to Merle, who of course didn't believe him and mocked him, witch led to a fight. Their father had come between them, throwing Merle out and after that giving Daryl a proper beating and at the end of it, punching him so hard he fell down the stairs and broke his leg. Will hadn't bothered to help him to the hospital, since needing help was a sing of weakness and he didn't allow weakness in his house, so Daryl had sat there against the wall, trying to block out the pain, sometimes passing out from it for hours before Merle came home and helped him to the hospital. Though he'd done it reluctantly and whined the whole time, he'd still understood that untreated a compound fracture could be even fatal._

_"I know what i saw!" Daryl spat and gripped the railing even harder._

_"Yeah and i'm sure them shrooms ye ate had nothin' to do with it. Right?" Merle laughed and leaned against the railing._

_" **Ye best shut the hell up**!"_

_"Or whaaat? Ye gon' come up here and shut my mouth for me?" Merle laughed mockingly and leaned forward._

_"Well come on and do it then, if ye think ye'r man 'nough." Daryl pulled himself up with all the strength he got and when he listened to Merle's mocking, he kinda understood what his brother was doing. "Hey, kick off them damn high heels and climb, son!" Merle went on and so did Daryl. He pulled himself up yet another step and glanced up to his brother, who didn't let up._

_"Ye know what, if i were ye i'd take a pause for the cause, brother, 'cause i just don't think ye'r gonna make it to the top." He said with a loud laugh and leaned even more closer. He grinned and outstretched his had just out of reach and wiggled his fingers. "Come on. Come on little brother."_

_Daryl looked at the hand and then at Merle._

_"Grab yer big brother's hand."_

_He looked at the hand for a second longer and then pushed with every ounce of strength he had and grabbed the railing beside the hand. Merle grinned and looked proud of his little brother for not quitting. He gave a barely noticeable nod and then moved further back so he wouldn't be on Daryl's way when he pulled himself up the last step._

 

\------------------

 

**Ireland**  
Year 1992  
The same time 

 

_"Ye really are the most annoying person i know, ye know that?"_

_"I'm annoying? Screw ye, yer annoying. And dumb as fuck."_

_"Yer the dumb one!"_

_"Oh fuck ye, i'm not the one who tried to get the_ waitress _to come home with me with a line like 'did it hurt when ye fell from heaven?' ye dumbass !" Murphy yelled to his brother who was walking a few steps in ahead of him. Connor snorted angrily and quickened his pace a little._

 _"And what did ye think would happen if ye got her to come home with ye? That ye would fuck her with Ma sleeping in the next room? And me in the_ same _room?"_

_"Shut up already ye little shit!" Connor exploded and walked even faster. Murphy rolled his eyes but decided to leave that topic behind. Instead huffed a little annoyed and tried to keep up with his twin, witch was hard since his leg had been hurting all day. He took a few steps running, ignoring the pain, to get to Connor's side and then grabbed his shoulder._

_"Can ye please stop running? Ye know my leg hurts, and i know yer's does too." Of course it did, every time one of them was sick, the other one would be too._

_Connor sighed a little annoyed but slowed down anyway. Murphy smiled a bit and patted his shoulder._

_"Ye had one of those dreams again last night..." Connor said after a while and looked at the ground. Murphy nodded a sighed quietly. He'd been having nightmares about someone beating him and hurting him a few times a month since he was fife years old. Connor had always been there, having the same dreams but from the different perspective. He was always just watching, unable to do anything._

_"Yeah... My leg's been hurting ever since..." Murphy said and chewed his lover lip. He scratched the back of his head and glanced at Connor. He knew how his dreams effected his brother, Connor was always tense and on the edge after them. He somehow blamed himself for not being able to do anything to help him._

_"I know." Connor simply said and sighed. He stopped and pulled a pack of cigarettes out from his pocket. Then he lit two of them and handed one to Murphy. "I'm sorry i can't make them stop..." He almost whispered, voice sounding hoarce._

_Murphy frowned and stepped a little closer. He placed his hand on Connor's back and tilted his head a little. "Ye know it's not yer fault. And ye always make me feel better after them." He tried to reassure his twin while caressing his back with his hand._

_"Yeah i just wish they'd stop..." Connor mumbled while chewing his lip._

_"Me too, but we don't have to worry about that now. Let's just get ye home before ye go back to get that waitress... i do not want to listen to that all night, i'd rather have a nightmare again." Murphy said and grinned. He pulled Connor into a tight hug and smiled even more when his twin hugged him back just as tightly._

_"Yeah i think she doesn't want to see either of us ever again after yer comment about her bein'_ stupid _enough to fall for my pick up lines." Connor answered and grinned too._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About Daryl and Merle's flashback, i hope you recognized the conversation they were having! I just wanted to give a little different meaning to the scene in 'chupacabra' with Daryl hallucinating about Merle, and make it not being about how Daryl saw himself and how he had Merle's and his dad's abuse stuck in his head, but make it a memory instead. Hope you liked it! :)


	5. A New Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is really important to me. When i first started to plan this story and had the basic idea of it ready, the flashbacks at the end of this chapter were the first things that came to my mind when i thought about how i was going to tie their pasts together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was fast. Had a few sick days from work and what better to do when you're at home covered in tissues and blankets, drinking tea, than write, huh? ;)

The sun was already starting to rise when they finally found a safe looking neighborhood near the edge of the city. It wasn't too close to the city to draw walkers in, but it was close enough for them to start looking for Merle on foot. There was about eight houses on the street they pulled in, all looking like they were some upper mid-class families white picket fence dream houses before the turn. There was a few cars still on the driveways, and one on the street, it's doors open, looking like the owner had had to abandon the car in a hurry. Connor stopped the pick-up on the street and rolled down the window. Daryl drove the motorcycle beside the pick-up and scanned through the street with his eyes.

"What'd ye think?" Connor asked absently while going through the houses one by one with his eyes and scratched his chin. He thought about their options and then glanced at Murphy who'd fallen asleep after a few hours of searching for a safe place for them to set up camp. Daryl shrugged and glanced at Murphy too. 

"We could clear one house tonight and rest a bit... go through the other houses tomorrow and make it a little safer... start looking for Merle after that." 

Connor nodded and pointed at a house that was nearest to them. "That one."

Daryl nodded and drove his bike close to the front door, turning it to face away from the house, ready for leaving quickly if they had to. Connor backed the pick-up to the driveway, same way as Daryl did his bike, ready to leave in a hurry. He looked at his twin sleeping in the passenger seat next to him and sighed. He hated to wake him up, god knows all of them needed to rest whenever it was possible. With a long sigh he reached his hand up Murphy's shoulder and shook him lightly.

"Murph... Murphy wake up, we found ourselves place to rest for a while."

Murphy stirred and shook his head, trying to help himself wake up better. He rubbed his eye with his palm and then looked at Connor for a moment and then at the neighborhood in front of him. 

"Where are we?" He asked and had to clear his throat after since his mouth was so dry and voice hoarse after his nap. Connor handed him a bottle of water and he took it eagerly and took a few sips. He would've wanted to drink more, but he knew that drinking water was an important asset and they didn't have too much of it just laying around so he settled to just moisten his mouth and throat a bit. He handed the bottle back to Connor and grabbed their bags while stepping out of the car. Connor did the same and walked to the other side of the car where Daryl and Murphy were waiting for him. Daryl had also taken his bag from the back of the pick up and had his crossbow loaded and ready to go. 

They left all the other bags and supplies inside the car safe and hidden from other scavengers, only taking one bag each, containing a few cans of food, spare change of clothes, water, ammunition and other important supplies. A kind of emergency bags for if they needed to run and didn't have time to get their things from the car.

The twins took out their knives and they formed a circle, making it easier to speak as quietly as possible.

"We go in and clear one room at a time. Daryl, ye should be at the front with yer bow, and we cover yer back with knives. No guns." Connor explained the plan to the other two men, taking the lead of their tiny group. He was used to planning everything and having other people follow his lead, it had always gone that way with Murphy and the saints business and after the turn, he'd been in charge of their group back in Boston before their camp had been overrun and they'd lost most of their friends. He knew Murphy wouldn't have anything to say about it, but he feared Daryl would protest him silently taking charge of things. He seemed the kind of guy who didn't like being told what to do.

Much to his surprise, Daryl didn't protest at all. Instead he nodded, seemingly letting the blonde twin take the lead and agreeing to go with his plan. He adjusted the weight of the crossbow in his hands and glanced at the house over his shoulder. Connor raised his eyebrows a little and then nodded.

"Great. Let's go."

They sneaked to the front door and Daryl placed his hand on the handle and glanced at the two brothers standing right beside him, ready for anything that waited for them in the other side of said door. Daryl nodded and slowly pushed the door open. Luckily it wasn't locked and they didn't have to break through it, which would've made way too much noise. Daryl stepped inside and scanned the room , crossbow ready. The room was empty of walkers so he entered and the twins followed close behind him. The room looked like it had been quite untouched, which gave them hope for finding supplies. There wasn't anything broken or dirty, only little bit of dust covering the furniture, nothing that indicated that the place would have been looted already by someone else.

Daryl moved silently through the room and glanced behind him to see if the twins followed him. They were right behind him which gave him security to enter the next room. The livingroom seemed just as untouched as the previous and it was empty of walkers too. They cleared the room quickly, checking the closets and then switched to the next door.

They moved through the downstairs quietly checking every room but still didn't find any walkers or dead bodies. Everything was still in it's own place and the house was weirdly clean, considering the neigborhood looked like any other these days. 

They cleared the last room in downstairs and then went to the room with stairs in it. Daryl glanced at Connor, who gave him an accepting nod. Daryl then started to make his way upstairs, keeping his bow raised and walking as quietly as he could. The hallway was clear, no walkers or corpses, but as soon as they'd gotten to the top of the stairs they could smell it. The same smell they'd smelled so many times after the turn, a smell of a dead human being. There was only two doors in at the hallway and Daryl placed himself in front of the one that the smell was clearly coming from and looked at the twins. The two of them positioned them selves right beside Daryl and gripped their knives tighter.

Daryl held his breath and gripped the handle, ready to open the door and kill the walkers that were inside. He took a deep breath and glanced at the twins one more time to make sure they were ready, and then opened the door.

They burst through the door ready to kill anything that stood in their way, but much to their surprise, there was no corpses walking around the room, but the stench got even stronger.

Murphy pulled his sleeve to his nose and coughed slightly at the smell. He was just as confused at the lack of walkers as his brothers, until he turned around to check the other side of the room, and that was when he saw it. He gasped in disgust and turned to look away for a moment as the sight was so horrible. Daryl shushed him angrily and turned around to see what was wrong but when he did, he couldn't be angry at Murphy for being so loud anymore. Connor turned around too and the look of horror spread to his face as well.

On a kingsize bed, a family of three was lying and holding each other close. They all had bullet holes in their heads and the father had a gun in his limp hand. The son couldn't be more than four years old, and the parents looked quite young as well. All three brothers looked horrified and disgusted at the same time. Daryl turned around and rubbed his forehead with his palm. He started pacing around the room and was clearly trying to gather his thoughts on what they should do next, since the twins were unable to do anything.

Connor stared at the family with sadness showing in his face and Murphy stared at the floor, since he couldn't look at the family. The sight was horrible and it made all of them hate the world they lived now even more.

Daryl paced around the room for a while, clearly angry and frustrated. After a moment, he stopped and looked at the twins and then at the family lying on the bed.

"I'mma go clear the last room." He stated and stormed out of the door. He didn't want to look at that for a second longer, and they had to clear the room anyway to be sure of the safety of the house, so he thought he would do that and give the twins time to gather themselves.

Murphy looked after him with unreadable expression on his face, and then walked to the other side of the room and leaned against the wall. He didn't know what they should do with them. Should they bury them or burn them, or just leave them there and find another house they could set up camp? His thoughts were a mess and it seemed like Connor's were too. He was still staring at the family and trying to decide the same things Murphy was wondering. They couldn't just leave them there to rot away and sleep in the next room as if they weren't there, but they couldn't exactly burn them either when it was still dark outside and the fire would attract walkers from miles away. Burying them was out of the question for the day, since they were all so exhausted that they would probably collapse if they started to dig three graves now, and besides it would be stupid to go out and make noise at night.

He sighed and started to go through the drawers on a dresser on the other side of the room. After a moment of searching he found what he was looking for, a big, white sheet. He took it in his hands and unfolded it carefully.

"Let's cover them up for tonight and figure the rest out tomorrow. We can sleep downstairs tonight." His voice came out quieter than he'd expected. Murphy nodded and took one side of the sheet and hepled Connor cover up the family with it. 

When they were done, Daryl came back from the other room. He leaned against the door frame ad looked at the bed with a blank look on his face. He chewed his lips and then threw his crossbow to his back. 

"We should barricade the front door." He stated quietly, trying to avoid the giant, smelling elefant in the room. The twins were happy to do the same, and nodded simultaneously.

 

\----------------------

 

Daryl shook the sleep out of his head for the hundreth time and got up from the couch he'd been sitting. He'd insisted on taking the first watch even though he felt like crap. He was more tired than he'd been in a long time, he's emotions were all over the place and his body was aching all over after the day of fighting the walkers _and_ people. It'd been stupid to storm off into the night and leave the quarry while it was still dark, but he just couldn't be in such a big croud at the moment. Even the two idiots sleeping in the next room were tough to handle, let alone about a dozen people at the quarry.

He walked to the window and watched the quiet neighbourhood. It was the kind of place he'd always wanted to live as a kid. White picket fences, lawns, swing sets and basketball hoops all around. A perfect American dream. His home had been a barely livable old shack at the far end of the street, covered by trees and bushes. Of course when he gotten older, he preferred the woods over any kind of house or neighborhood, but as a kid his dream had been to live in a normal family with normal parents and a normal house.

It was ridiculous how things had chanced just in a couple months. The people who lived in these kind of neighborhoods, the people who'd always judged him as a waste of space, good for nothing redneck hillbilly, were probably mostly wiped out, and the people like him, who'd always had to fend for themselves, hunt their food and basically fight for their lives every day were thriving. He thought about his life before the outbreak, and then after it and couldn't help but let out a hollow chuckle. It hadn't changed a bit. Only thing that wasn't there anymore was his father. And now Merle. He'd always lived mostly in the woods, camping on a hunting trips and sometimes just leaving for a few days just to get away from his family.

He stared through the window and thought about the family he'd been stuck with, his drunken father who'd never really cared about him, or atleast had never showed it. Without even noticing it, he slided his fingers through his upper body and stilled them at his side below his ribs. He pulled up his shirt and traced his fingers over an old scar. The feeling wasn't new, he'd done this so many times he didn't even remember how many. It was the last scar his father had ever given him one night after dinking. He'd come home from work and found his father passed out on the couch. When he'd woken up they'd had a big fight like so many other times before. After that night he hadn't returned home. He'd gone to live with Merle and he'd lived there the rest of his life before the turn. 

He felt the scar one more time and then pulled his shirt back down. He sighed and leaned his arm against the window right above his head. Merle... He went through that last fight they'd had just before he'd left for his hunting trip and Merle had left to Atlanta, and pressed his forehead to the window. What if he never saw his brother again? What if that was the last thing he'd ever say to him? _Fuck off..._ What if the only person who had ever given a shit about him even the slightest besides his mother, was dead? 

It was only after he tasted the salt when he noticed the tears that were falling down his cheeks. _God, ye'r such a little bitch._ Merle's voice ran through his head when he realized he was crying, while thinking about the life he'd had to live, the things he'd had to go through and the people he'd lost. His brother who'd been left behind to die, because he wasn't there to prevent it, wasn't there to save him.

It was pathetic, he knew it but couldn't help it. He was too tired to fight off the emotions this time. That was usually what he did in these kind of situations but now it felt like it was too much of an effort to shut them out. He stared blankly out of the window. _It should've been me._ He pressed his lips to a thin line and narrowed his eyes. His hands squeezed into fists and he couldn't help the anger that was building inside of him. It should have been him who'd gone to Atlanta instead of Merle. Everything would be fine now if it had. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to hold himself back for a second, tried to block out the buzzing in his head, but couldn't help the feeling any longer. 

The thin door that connected the living room and the kitchen made a loud bang when his fist went through it. The peaces of wood fell to the ground when he pulled his hand out and went for another swing, but before he could break the door, or his hand even more, something stopped him from moving. He stilled and stared straight ahead for a second and then turned on his heels and tackled the person standing behind him to the ground so fast that he didn't have time to react. He was just about to bury his bruised fist in to the guys face when he got a look at him and heard his voice. He froze, fist still in the air and stared at the other man.

"Daryl!"

Murphy stared back at him from the floor a stunned look on his face. "Daryl it's me! It's just me, okay? Relax!" He tried to calm the archer who was pinning him down.

Daryl stared at him for a moment and then pulled himself off of him and stumbled on the floor in front of him. He looked at Murphy and in that second all the feelings that had dwelled inside of him came crashing down on him. Something in the other mans face, _his face_ , made him open up all the bottled feelings he'd held inside of him not just that day, but all his life. He looked devastated and didn't even notice the tears that made his sight blurry. He dropped to the ground on his back and just stared at the ceiling and let the tears fall and the sobs and gasps come out of his mouth. 

Murphy sat on the floor and didn't exactly know what to do. He stared at Daryl and moments went by as he just sat there, unable to do anything. Then he felt it too. All the pain the other man was going through. Just like he'd always felt if Connor was hurting, he felt Daryl's pain like it was his own. He didn't even know what had happened to the archer besides Merle going missing, to make him this broken on the inside, but he still felt all of it. And it was overwhelming. 

He tried to come up with something to say that would help the situation, but figured nothing he could say would make his brother feel any better so he calmed himself down a bit and then went to lay on the ground next to Daryl as close as possible without touching. He stared at the ceiling and breathed loudly and slowly so that Daryl could mach his breathing and calm down that way. For a while nothing happened and the man next to him still sobbed and breathed too quickly to actually get any oxygen, but then after few moments went by, he started to calm down and began to breathe in the same pace as Murphy. 

A long while went by before he was fully calm and breathing slowly. Still either of them moved from the floor, so they laid there staring at the ceiling for what felt like light years.

Murphy tried to find words for the situation, but more of he thought about it, the more clear it became to him that Daryl probably wouldn't want to talk about it so he decided not to mention what had happened just moments before.

"Does yer hand hurt?" He broke the silence but wouldn't look away from the ceiling.

Daryl felt more than grateful that Murphy hadn't asked why he was crying and smashing doors. "Nah.. i'm used to it. 'M fine." He answered with a hoarse voice and wouldn't move his head either. "Did i wake ye?"

"No i couldn't sleep in the first place, seems i got all the sleep i needed when i napped in the car." He said and made Daryl chuckle a little.

It was weird, usually if someone saw this side of him, the broken core inside of the hardened shell, he would hate them for it and probably beat them up, but somehow with Murphy he didn't feel angry or ashamed at all. Instead he felt more relaxed he'd felt whole day. Like he'd let all the bad energy of the day flow out from him and now felt so much lighter. He'd probably hate himself later for being such a pussy but right now he didn't want to beat himself up.

Murphy chuckled a bit too and sighed lightly.

"Slept like damned baby through all the stops we made. Sucked yer thumb and everything." Daryl teased and grinned.

"I did not!" Murphy snapped, trying to sound angry. 

"Did too! Like a little baby ye were, only a teddy bear missing!" Daryl continued and chuckled when he got a shove to the side in return.

Murphy tried to look angry for a second but couldn't fight the smirk.

"Fine!" He surrendered and got up to a sitting position. He pulled two cigarettes out of his pocket and handed one to Daryl after lighting it. The archer got up as well and took the cigarette that was handed to him. they moved to lean on the couch and stared out of the window while smoking. "Haven't seen any geeks all night...kinda weird." He changed the subject after a while and glanced at Murphy.

"Yeah... let's just hope it stays that way." Murphy answered and blew out smoke. Of course they knew that it wouldn't, it never did, but it didn't hurt to have hope that things would work out. 

"Yeah..." Daryl answered absently and stared at the house opposite to theirs.

It was quiet after that for a long time. They sat on the floor and smoked a few more cigarettes. The sun was almost up and it wasn't so dark anymore, so they could see the neighborhood more clearly. It was a beautiful morning, the rising sun made the clouds in front of it shine in purple and yellow, and the ruffed up street looked almost hauntingly beautiful. The wind made the leaves move a little in the trees and the old newspapers and some other thrash dance around on the street. They looked at the sight silently and enjoyed themselves. It was so rare to be able to just sit around calmly anymore so it felt good to just relax for a while.

"We're gonna find him, ye know." Murphy broke the silence and put out his cigarette.

Daryl looked at him for a while with an unreadable look on his face and then turned his head back to the window.

"I know..." He said and was surprised of how much Murphy's words gave him reassurance, even when he'd just moments earlier lost all hope of ever seeing Merle again. He smiled a little and sighed. "Ye know, when we were kids, Merle used to tell me that some day our real da would come and get us, and everything would get better." He let out a tiny chuckle and looked at the cigarette burning away in his hand for a while. Murphy looked at him and waited if he wanted to continue.

"Well that never happened, but still, I think in some way he was right."

_It wasn't our dad, but it was you._

Murphy looked at him for a while and then turned his head back to the window. He smiled a bit and sighed.

Another moment went by when they just sat there and watched the street before he broke the silence. 

"Ye should get some sleep."

Daryl nodded absently and stayed still for a minute. Then he got up and patted Murphy's shoulder. "Don't fall asleep." He said and gave an evil smirk. Murphy gave him the finger along whit a grin, and then turned back to look out of the window.

 

\---------------------------

 

Daryl opened the door to the room they were sleeping in as quietly as he could and slipped in. He looked at the sleeping man in the corner and was amazed of how he could've slept through the noise the door had made when he'd hit it. He unrolled his sleeping bag close to the wall and laid on top of it. He stared at the ceiling trying to go to sleep and had almost drifted off when Connor suddenly spoke up.

"Ye alright?" His voice startled him and he turned his head to look at the blonde twin.

"What?" He blurted out the word, stunned that he hadn't realized that the other man had been awake.

"Ye okay?" Connor repeated and sat up. He'd woken up to a terrible weight on his chest earlier and noticed that Murphy wasn't there anymore. He'd gotten up and went to the door. When he'd peeked to the other room he'd seen the two of them lying on the ground and just breathing, Murphy way more calmer than the archer. He'd watched them for a moment but then decided to let them have their moment and went back to bed.  
"Yeah 'm fine." Daryl answered and stared holes to the ceiling.

Connor looked at him for a while and then gave up, of course the redneck wouldn't tell him what was wrong. It was way too early for them to open up to each other. Maybe after some time had passed they'd be able to talk about these things, but clearly not yet. Still, he wanted to make his brother feel better somehow, even though he knew that Murphy had already taken care of that. Only thing that came to his mind was what he said next.

"Ye know, we've always had this connection, Murphy and I. It's some kind of a twin thing i guess."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. We've always known if the other one was hurting... physically or emotionally. Basically we've always known exactly what the other was feeling or thinking."

Daryl chewed his lips and tried to find the hidden meaning behind Connor's words. 

"That's just freaky." He said with a voice that let Connor know he hadn't meant to be mean, but that he'd just teased him. Connor chuckled a bit. "Yea i guess it is..."

He stared at the archer for a moment longer and then laid back down. He glanced over at Daryl once more and then turned to face the wall.

"Anyway, clearly ye'r feeling better. Thank God for that too, ye think so loud i'm surprised that the walkers in the city don't hear ye, I can't get any sleep with all that buzzing in yer head." He said to end the conversation and Daryl understood with that what he'd meant when he'd told him about their 'connection'. He snorted and turned to face the wall too. "God damned leprechauns." He muttered, with a tiny smile he hid from the world by burying his face to his pillow, just before falling asleep. And for the first time in a long time he slept peacefully.

 

\-----------------------------

 

**Georgia  
Year 1999**

 

_What just happened?_

_He stared at his father with wide eyes and tried to connect his mind with his body, witch seemed impossible right now. It was like his mind was floating in the air, not able to give commands to his body to move._

_He stared blankly at his fathers face, witch showed no emotion whatsoever. It was like he'd turned to stone, and was now staring back at him, looking more furious than ever._

_He felt the blood make trails on his face from the wound on top of his eyebrow, and he felt the pain in his ribs that were probably broken after a few hard kicks. But all that came second to what he was feeling the most. Something wet pouring out of his side, making his shirt wet. A dripping sound was all he heard when the blood fell to the ground, forming a tiny puddle. He still looked at his father in the eye when he's hand went to cover the spot that shot waves of pain all through his body. He felt the wet fabric of his shirt and was surprised, even though he of course had known that it would be wet. He's gaze lowered to the thing his father was holding in his hand, a broken bottle with blood on it._

_He slowly moved his shaking hand away from his side and looked at it. He gasped silently when he saw the amount of the blood that covered it and realized that the reason his sight was so blurry was because of the tears that fell to his cheeks._

_"I told ye to behave yerself." The lack of care in his father's voice hurt even though he knew to expect nothing more. It still hurt, after twenty seven years, to know how little his father cared about him. He bit his lip and lifted his gaze to meet Will's with unreadable look on his face.  
"Ye do what i say in this house, ye worthless little shit." Will continued and to give more power to his words, he threw the bottle on the ground, making it shatter into tiny pieces._

_That was it. It took one word that he'd heard so many times before in his life. Worthless. It rang through his head, like he heard all the times it was said to him at the same time. He squeezed his blood covered hand into a fist and stared at his father in the eye and in that moment, he felt something change inside of him._

_"Shut up."_

_"What'd ye say to me ye piece of shit?"_

_"Shut up."_

_Will widened his eyes with fury and stepped closer._

_"Ye do not get to talk to me that way! Don't ye got no respect at all for me? I raised ye, fed ye, took care of ye and kept yer worthless ass alive when ye'r bitch mother got herself burned to death! Ye would be dead without me! **Ye don't get to talk to me that way!** "_

_Daryl looked at him dead in the eye and listened every word that came out of him carefully. After his father was done with his rant, he stayed calm, but felt something building up inside his chest._

_"Ye never did any of that. Without Merle, i'd be dead. Ye would've killed me many times by now if it weren't for him." He stepped closer, for the first time ever challenging his father with something in his eyes that made Will unsure and little nervous._

_"That sack of shit's been never any good for nobody. I raised ye!"_

_"He did."_

_Daryl stepped even closer and stared at his father in the eye intensely. He could see how his father became more nervous with his every step, every word he spoke.  
"Clearly yer so stupid that ye still don't know yer place!" He spat and swung his fist towards Daryl's face. Much to his surprise, Daryl ducked and then crashed to his middle with all the force he could get out of him._

_Will fell to the ground and hit his head. He didn't have time to react at all, since Daryl was instantly on him and buried his fists in to his face repeatedly._

_It was like he couldn't control his body, he kept hitting his fathers face until it was covered in blood pouring out of his now broken nose. After a few more punches, he stopped and looked at his father in the eye. Will stared back at him with wide, pain filled eyes._

_Daryl smiled with no joy in his eyes._

_"Ye don't get to touch me ever again." He said softly and placed his hand on his father's throat. He squeezed just the right amount to make breathing extremely difficult, but not impossible. His goal was not to kill his father, but to leave him alive, knowing he'd lost._

_"Ye don't get to call me worthless ever again." He gave a little more pressure to Will's neck and leaned closer._

_"Ye didn't break me."_

_Then he stood up and kicked him to his side, satisfied about the crack and the yelp of pain that came with the kick._

_He looked at his father whimpering on the floor, his face swelling and forming bruises, for a minute, and took it all in. This was the sight he'd wanted to witness almost all his life, and now it was happening, and it was his doing._

_"Hey!"_

_He said with a strong voice witch made Will flinch._

_" **Hey!** " He yelled to get his father to look at him, and when he finally did, he grinned first and then turned his face emotionless again._

_"There's no cryin' in this house."_

_And with that, he was out of the door and out of that house for good._

 

\------------------------------

 

 **Boston**  
**Year 1999, the same exact time**

 **The Boston police station, the cell.**

  


 

_It didn't feel like a normal dream. The storm outside the police station made it's way into their unconscious minds and they heard the thunder as a part of the dream. The dripping water from the cracks of the ceiling made the air moist and the whole atmosphere was hazy and dream-like._

_The words of the monsignor ran through their heads and they heard the words clear as day, even if they were in a dream._

_"This poor soul cried out for help... They watched as he simply walked away... Indifference of good men! Nobody wanted to get involved... Nobody... Nobody..."_

_And in that second they were ripped awake by some unknown force. The feeling was something they'd never had before. It was like a thousand lightnings went through their bodies, changing something inside of them, and made them shot up into a sitting position. They gasped for breath and bathed in the feeling for a moment. Like enormous weight had lifted off of their shoulders, it felt like they were free for the first time in their lives, like their bodies were lighter, their heads were clearer than ever and it felt like this was the end of their former lives and the start of the new one._

_Then another voice echoed through the walls of the cell. A voice they didn't recognize._

_"Whosoever shed man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God may deem a man."_

_They turned their heads to face each other simultaneously and looked each other in the eye. Connor breathed heavily and the words came to him at the same second he said them out loud, like someone had put them in his mouth._

_"Destroy all that which is evil..."_

_Murphy looked at him and had the same feeling as his brother when he continued the phrase, like someone gave him the words at the same second he said them._

_"So that which is good may flourish."_

_They were quiet after that, no words needed to be said. They both knew this was a new beginning to them. They now had a purpose in life and they had been given the path they were supposed to walk. They now knew what they had to do, what had to be done in_ his _name._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh and while i wrote this chapter i listened only two songs in repeat the whole time i wrote.  
> Somehow they inspired me so much that i couldn't change the song until i got bored to one and had to change to the other. :D
> 
> Placebo - Running up that hill  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KEEXyRL0qE  
> Imagine Dragons - Demons  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWRsgZuwf_8


	6. A Bad Feeling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, i haven't been very inspired to write lately due to some personal reasons, but i'm working on it and i hope to get next chapter ready a little faster this time :)

A closing door woke Connor up from his dream and he shot up from the couch he'd fallen asleep in the middle of his watch. _Fuck... how long was i asleep?_ He looked outside and saw that the sun was already high in the sky, shining blinding rays of sunshine inside the living room through the dusty window, it was maybe a mid day. 

He could see a glimpse of Daryl disappearing behind the house, carrying something in his hands. He frowned and walked closer to the window, trying to see where the redneck was going. Of course he couldn't see anything since he'd went around the corner, so he sighed and grabbed his knife and quickly checked on Murphy who was sleeping in the next room. They'd changed watch turns a few hours after Murphy had taken over after Daryl. Even though it hadn't been his turn, he'd still insisted that his twin went to get some rest. 

He knew it sometimes annoyed Murphy how over protective he was about him, but he Couldn't help it. He saw himself as the big brother and felt like he had to take care of Murphy's needs over his own.

After he'd made sure his brother was alright and safe, he left to go after Daryl.

When he got to the back yard, the first thing he noticed was three big holes on the ground under a big, old tree, and Daryl crouching over the middle one with the little boy's corpse in his arms. He'd carefully covered the child with a white, clean sheet he'd probably found from the same drawer Connor had found the sheet he'd covered the family up last night.

Connor stilled and chewed his lip. He didn't want to disturb the moment and stayed back, watching as Daryl climbed in to the grave he'd dug all by himself when the twins were sleeping and carefully lowered the child to the ground. Connor felt bad about not helping the archer with the task, but he wondered that maybe his brother had wanted to be alone since he hadn't woken him or Murphy up.

When Daryl stood up and was about to get up from the grave, he noticed Connor standing near the house, arms crossed, watching him with an unreadable look on his face. He looked at him in the eye for a few seconds and then looked away, chewing his lips.

The blonde saw that he had been seen and walked closer. He stopped at the edge of the grave and offered a hand to the archer, who looked at it for a while and then climbed out of the grave, without taking the offered help. He felt so ashamed of himself because of yesterday. How the hell was he such a pussy that he'd been crying on the floor in front of Murphy. And of course Connor knew what'd happened, he'd made it pretty clear with their little talk when he'd gone to bed. He hated himself for acting that way, for showing that side of him to a perfect stranger. Even if he couldn't deny the connection he'd felt to the twins, they still were strangers after only one day of knowing them. He went to stand on the edge of the grave, next to Connor, but wouldn't say a word. He stared at the child laying on the ground, covered with a sheet and hated the world for what if had become.

"Ye didn't have to do that all by yerself." Connor said quietly after a while. He looked at the archer who still wouldn't look back at him, studying his face, trying to read the expression on it. 

"Well ye two micks were _both_ sleeping, and i wanna get this over with so we can go through the other houses." He answered, sounding way more pissed that he'd intended and wiped some sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. Connor raised and eyebrow and looked at him, like waiting an explanation to his snapping. Of course he didn't get one, and Daryl left to go get a shovel that was leaning on the wall of the house. He came back with it and started to fill in the last Grave.

Connor sighed, a little frustrated at the archers clearly annoyed mood and tried to look around if there would be another shovel somewhere. Daryl seemed to notice his intentions to help out, and rolled his eyes.

"Don't need yer help, go cuddle with yer brother or somethin'." He grunted and that made Connor look at him, trying to figure just what had caused the archer to be in such a bad mood. Not really knowing how to make him feel better, he tried to lighten the mood a bit.

"What? With ye? Well come on then." He grinned and nudged Daryl's side with his elbow, trying to get a reaction out of him.

Daryl didn't find it as funny as Connor obviously did. Instead he got even more annoyed at the fact that the blonde still wouldn't leave him be.

"Just leave me the hell alone." He snapped, rising his voice a bit and throwing some dirt into the grave with more force than needed. He felt so ashamed, angry and annoyed about last night even though Connor hadn't been there to see him fall apart. He could only imagine how he'd feel if Murphy woke up right now.

Connor sighed loudly, getting really annoyed too. He couldn't understand why the archer would act this way, why he was so angry. He shook his head and turned around.

"Alright, whatever. Watch yer back, i'll wake up Murph so we can get moving after yer finished." And with that, he turned around and started walking back to the house. Daryl rolled his eyes and continued filling in the grave.

 

\------------------------

 

When Connor reached the room Murphy had been sleeping in, he found it empty. Murphy had obviously woken up while he was out with Daryl and left to God knows where. He turned on his heels almost panicking with an intention to look for his twin, but before he could take one step, he saw Murphy standing in front of him with a smile on his face, looking well rested. His overgrown, black hair that almost reached his eyes and had started to curl a little from the ends, was pointing in every direction and there was still sleep in his eyes. 

Connor stared at him for a moment, basking in the feeling of security to have Murphy stand there in front of him looking so worry free. His morning look reminded Connor of the mornings before the apocalypse when they'd had a day off and they would sleep till noon and just hang out in their tiny apartment without even dressing up.

He smiled at the memory and then quickly got back to earth. "Geez, don't _ever_ scare me like that again. Where the hell were ye?" He snapped at his twin, trying to sound more angry that he actually was. Of course Murphy saw right through him and knew that he wasn't really angry. He grinned and nudged his brothers stomach lovingly and then walked past him to the room they'd slept in. 

"Relax, i was just gettin' some breakfast from the car. Ye worry too much, Conn." Connor could sense the eye roll while he's brother wiggled a can of peaches in his hands and then sat down on top of his sleeping bag. He rolled his eyes too, and sat next to Murphy, crossing his arms and frowning. "I don't worry too much, I worry just the right amount! Ye worry too little." He sounded like a pouting kid who had just been lectured by his parents. Murphy chuckled while chewing his food and nudged Connor's side.

"Oh come on ye, ye've always worried too much about me! Every time i get a tiniest cut or a bruise, ye're practically calling 911 before i have time to say 'ouch'." He laughed and leaned his head on his brother's shoulder. "Ye don't have to worry so much all the time, we're gonna be fine."

"Of course i have to worry, I'm ye'r big brother and i have to keep ye safe. It's my job." Connor responded and leaned his head against Murphy's.

"Hey! We both know i'm the oldest!" Murphy chuckled, and continued. "And i thought ye'r job was killing bad guys!"

Connor chuckled. "Ye wish ye were the oldest."

Murphy grinned and offered Connor a few peaches which he took eagerly. He hadn't noticed how hungry he was before he took them, and now noticed the empty feeling and the growling in his stomach. Murphy seemed to notice it too, and offered the rest to his brother. "Here, ye eat the rest. I'm gonna go outside for a moment." When Connor took the can he stood up and started to head to the door.

"Hey no, wait up where ye think ye're going?" Connor stood up as well, his light mood gone in a second.

Murphy rolled his eyes and looked a bit amused. "Calm yerself, i'll just go around the corner."

"Why?"

"Conn, calm down already. I can take care of myself, and i need to pee." There was a mild irritability in his voice by now.

Connor noticed that he was _again_ smothering his twin, and backed off a bit, he didn't want to start a fight between them since Daryl was already in a bad mood. He didn't need for them all to be pouting before the day had even started. 

"Fine. Watch yerself."

 

\------------------------

 

The door opened behind him and Daryl immediately knew that it was Murphy who came out. The twin's steps sounded almost the same, they walked in the same rhythm and they weighed the same amount, but he could still, after so little time of knowing them, tell them apart. Murphy's were little bit lighter and easier, when Connor's sounded more like he was carrying a lot of weight in his shoulders. Like he was worrying all the time. Of course he was, he was the big brother. Even if they were twins, he could see it in Connor that he was older, even if just a few minutes.

He sat on the porch of their new house smoking one of his last cigarettes and didn't turn to face his brother even when he greeted him with a perky high school girl -like "Morning!". Instead he blew out some smoke and grunted a little to let the other know that he wasn't in a mood for any 'good morning' wishes right now.

Murphy tilted his head a little and looked at the archer, lost in thought for a moment before sitting next to him on the porch. "What's got yer panties in a bunch? Did a squirrel get away, huh?" He grinned and nudged Daryl's side gently. The reaction he got in return was not what he expected.

Daryl was on him faster than he could even realize what was happening, much like last night, only this time Daryl was very aware of what he was doing. He sat on top of Murphy and held him by his shirt, eyes narrowed and looking really pissed. "Leave me be ye annoying mick, don't need yer 'good morning' wishes of yer dumbass jokes! 'N i certainly don't deed ye'r help with _anything_!" The last part referred to the night before and Murphy got that. He stared at Daryl, eyes wide in confusion and surprise. "Hey relax dude, what's wrong with ye?" He asked a bit annoyed about the other man's outburst.

Daryl just rolled his eyes and got up. He picked the cigarette that had fallen to the floor and sucked in smoke almost violently. His brother got up as well and scanned the near by for any walkers they might have drawn out with Daryl's yelling. he couldn't see any, so he turned back to Daryl. "What the hell happened? Yesterday we were all buddy buddy and now ye can't even look at me without getting mad." 

Daryl rolled his eyes and blew out smoke. "Nothin' happened." His voice was dark and deep. It sounded almost dangerous. 

"Somethin' did." Murphy said and leaned to the railing next to his brother. He tried to catch his eye but Daryl wouldn't look at him.

"No. Nothin' happened. Ye hear me? _Nothin'_ happened. Not today, not yesterday, ye get that ye stupid mick?" Daryl snapped and then threw his half smoked cigarette away. He turned away from the twin and walked few steps. "Now leave me be. I'mma go hunt us some decent breakfast and then we're gonna clear the houses on the block." Whit that he was gone. 

Murphy stood there and watched after him for a moment and then rolled his eyes. "Fine. I get it."

 

\-----------------------

 

It was already about a mid day but still, they had just woken up and hunting breakfast for them was the perfect excuse to get out of the house and to get away from the brothers for a while. And Daryl really wanted to get away from them at the moment.

He walked silently through the trees and bushes, trying to find some kind of tracks to follow, so he could get his mind of everything that had happened yesterday with Merle, the group and the twins. Especially the thing with Murphy. A part of him felt kinda relieved to have some of that weight off his shoulders. Even though he hadn't said a word to Murphy, it felt like he'd understood him and taken some of that weight off of him. But mainly, the bigger part of him felt ashamed and annoyed about the whole thing. 

Because of his father, he hadn't opened up to anyone ever, not even Merle... well... especially Merle. So since it was a whole new thing for him to show any weakness to anyone, he didn't quite know how to handle the feelings that came with it.

The woods were quiet, he hadn't seen any walkers or animals ever since he'd left the house. Not even a squirrel had crossed his path so he just walked quietly and didn't even try to find any tracks to follow.

A sound of water flowing woke him from his thoughts and he stopped to listen, trying to locate the source of the sound, and when he did, he started to walk towards it. He was just about to reach the river when he heard the moans. His whole body tensed when he saw the herd on the other side of the shallow river.

There were about 30 of them caught between the water and a cliff. He tried to get away from sight as quiet as he could, but when he started to back away, he felt something grab him from behind. 

 

\----------------------

 

"Why do you think he's in such a bad mood today?" Connor asked, trying to sound all casual, like he wasn't trying to pry about Murphy's conversation with Daryl last night.

"Don't know. Woke up on a wrong foot?" Murphy grinned and carried on cleaning his gun. Of course he knew what Connor was up to, he always knew, but he wasn't going to tell anything about yesterday to him. He'd made a silent promise to Daryl not to talk about it. Not that there was much to tell anyway, they hadn't talked about anything related to Daryl's breakdown anyway.

"Oh come on, ye must know why he's actin' like that! I saw ye yesterday."

"I know ye saw us."

"I know ye know."

"I know."

"I know."

Murphy grinned. "I know."

"Oh shut up already and tell me!" Connor pleaded and nudged his brother's side.

"I ain't tellin' ye anythin'. Besides there's nothin' to tell. We didn't talk."

Connor sighed and leaned his head against the wall. "Fine."

A few moments went by when they were just cleaning their guns in silence, before Murphy broke the silence. "Do ye think we'll find him?"

Connor stirred from his thoughts and looked up from his Beretta. "Who? Merle?"

"Yeah."

"Don't ye worry a bit, brother. We'll find him, and gathered that he was so much trouble to the group that he had to be handcuffed to the roof and the fact that he cut off his own hand with a dull saw tell's me that he's a real badass who can make it on his own." He said with a confident smile on his face. Really he was worried, he felt like it was impossible to find someone in this world when you had no idea where they had gone or if they were even alive. But still he couldn't let Murphy think that. They needed to give a hundred percent to this to have any chance of finding Merle.

"Okay." Murphy said quietly and chewed his lips. Of course he knew how Connor really felt, they hadn't ever been able to keep secrets from each other. He decided to let it go and continued what he was doing in silence.

 

\-----------------------

 

A few hours went by as they did their chores, cleaning up the house, setting better barriers to the windows and doors and gathering everything they could think they would need from the house and carried the stuff to the car. It was when Connor's stomach growled viciously when he started wondering what took Daryl so long in his hunting trip. He still thought that maybe the hunter just needed to cool off a bit since he'd been annoyed all morning, and thought that he would give him a little more time before bringing his worry up with Murphy, so he went to get some canned beans from the car and sat on the living room couch. Murphy was still upstairs going through the master bedroom, so he was safe from their "twin connection" and could worry without his other half finding out.

He went through every possible scenario in his head about what could have happened to Daryl, why he was taking so long and why he felt so on the edge all of a sudden. He tried to brush it off as just a pointless worry and a bad feeling like it usually was when he felt this way about Murphy and reassured himself countless times that Daryl was just in a bad mood and didn't want to be bothered, but still he couldn't shake the feeling.

"What's wrong?" Murphy's voice startled him and he turned around. He'd been so lost in thoughts that he hadn't heard his brother coming downstairs.

"What d'ye mean?" He tried to act like nothing was bothering him, even though he knew Murphy would never in a million years buy his act.

"Ye know what I mean. I know ye and ye know that." Murphy rolled his eyes and sat on the couch next to him. "Something's bothering ye, and i would bet money on that it's the fact that Daryl isn't back yet."

Connor sighed slowly and stared at the untouched can of beans in his hands. "Yeah. I have a bad feeling."

"Ye _always_ have a bad feeling."

Connor snorted at his brother's remark.

"That said, i'm kinda worried too." Murphy went on and chewed his lips.

Connor shifted his eyes from the beans to look at Murphy instead. "Ye think we should go look for him?"

 

\---------------------

 

_**Ireland**  
**Year 1980**_

_"I have a bad feeling." Connor muttered and glanced at his brother who was digging through their mother's drawer a little too exited._

_"Ye always have a bad feeling." Murphy stated and grinned when he found what he'd been looking for. He grabbed the lighter and the cigarettes from the drawer and stuffed them in his pocket. "And besides, this was yer idea." He continued and glanced at Connor._

_"Yea but i'm having second thoughts." Connor said quietly and chewed his lips._

_Murphy rolled his eyes and closed the drawer. "Let's go." He said determined._

_\----------------------_

_They figured that their neighbors old barn would be the best place to try the smokes. The owner didn't use it for anything at the moment and hardly ever was even near it, and since it was pretty far from other buildings in their village, no one would see them. They'd seen some older kids from their school smoking earlier that day and wanted to try it for them selves._

_When they got to the farm, they walked behind it just in case and then took out the cigarettes. Connor pulled two out of the pack and handed one to Murphy who put the pack back in his pocket and then took the cigarette from his brother._

_"Did you take the lighter too?" Connor asked. He was really exited to try something that older kids did, but still at the same time he had a really bad feeling about it. Like he knew something bad was going to happen._

_"No i thought they would lit themselves." Murphy snorted sarcastically and pulled the lighter from his pocket._

_Connor was the one to try it first. He took a long drag from the cigarette and felt the smoke travel to his lungs. The feeling wasn't as nice as he'd thought it would be. He really didn't want to show weakness and cough, but he couldn't help it._

_After like a fife minutes of coughing and Murhpy laughing, he was finally able to stop and breathe. He slapped Murphy in the back of his head and glared at him. "Try it yerself if ye think yer so tough to handle it." He snapped and shoved his brother a bit._

_"Fine, i will." Murphy accepted his challenge and took a drag. Connor's face lit up as his twin grimaced and started coughing just as much as he did just moments ago._

_After they both had tried their cigarettes a few more times, they decided to never do it again._

_\--------------------_

_When they got home, Annabelle was just getting off the phone and she had a worried look on her face._

_"Where were ye? Mr. MacNally just called and told me his barn's on fire."_

_\------------------------_

__**_Georgia_**  
**_Year 1980_**  
**_The same exact time_**

 

_Daryl liked the kids in his neighborhood. They let him tag along with them when they were playing in the park near by and no one really bullied him, like the kids at his school. They usually played hide and seek or tag or something like that, and he loved it. Times like these he felt just like a normal kid._

_Even though he was very rarely allowed to go out and play, today he'd sneaked out while his mom was upstairs and dad was out. He knew he'd get in trouble but it was worth it._

_They played hide and seek today, his time to shine. Because of his hunting training, he was sneakier than any other kids, since Merle had taught him to move fast and quiet in the woods, the park was just too easy. The other kids would always have to look for him so long that they would eventually get bored and call for him to come out. And when he was the one looking, the game would be over in just a few minutes._

_They played for a few hours, everyone got their turn to look for the others and after they got bored, they'd go to the near by forest and test Daryl's skills there. Still he always found everyone pretty quickly._

_After they had played in the forest for an hour or so, they heard a siren somewhere not far, and they all ran to the side of the nearest road. They did't have to wait for long when the firetruck sped by them towards their neighborhood. Everyone got really exited._

_"Cool! Let's go see what's happening!" One of the kids yelled and grabbed his bike. Others were quick to follow him, leaving Daryl behind since his family couldn't afford to buy him a bike- or care to do so for that matter. He started running after them but of course he couldn't keep up with them, so he just followed the sound of the firetruck._

_After he'd run for about 5 minutes or so, he realized that the fire had to be very close to his house. He sped up and rand as fast as he could, not wanting to miss anything exiting._

_As he approached the street he lived in, he slowed down a bit and started to think about his neighbors. He hoped to God that no one had gotten hurt in the fire._

_When he turned to his street, it was filled with people and he couldn't really see anything. He walked next to one of the kids who was way in the back too, trying to see from behind all the adults._

_"So who's house is it?" He asked and chewed his thumb nail._

_"It's the Dix.." The kid stopped talking the second he turned his head and saw who he was talking to._

_Daryl's heart stopped._

_"What?"_

_The kid looked horrified and he didn't really know what to say._

_Daryl turned his head in the direction of his house. Then he remembered. His mom had been really drunk today, more than usually. He felt like he couldn't breathe._

_He took a few steps back and tried to reassure himself that his mom was okay. She'd gotten out, he couldn't even think about the other possibility. He stood there for a moment, trying to gather himself but everything just got too overwhelming._

_"MOM!" He cried at the top of his lungs and started pushing his way through the people. Some of them who noticed him, gave him room and he got to the front pretty easily._

_The house was in ruins. There was nothing but a few smoking walls and a whole lot of ash where his home had been. He burst in to tears and launched himself towards the house, in an effort to go and see if his mom was there, when he felt something stop him. Se struggled to get free, but the thing that'd stopped him was too strong so he eventually gave up and when he did, he saw everything else around the burnt down house. He saw the firefighters, police officers and the paramedics. And the body bag on a gurney._

_it felt like everything was moving on slow motion. It didn't feel real. He stared at the body bag and tried to picture his mom's face, but the image seemed to melt away. He couldn't remember her face, it was all just a blank._

_He felt the grip that kept him in his place tighten around him and glanced behind him to see his father standing behind him on one knee, holding him tight and staring at the same thing he'd been staring. He turned around and carefully wrapped his arms around his father's neck and lowered his head on his fathers shoulder._

_"I'm sorry i left the house." he murmured so quietly that his dad almost missed it._

_Will looked at the body bag containing the remains of his wife for a moment, then turned his head to look away._

_"It ain't your fault."_

**Author's Note:**

> So what did you guys think? It would be cool to get some feedback, positive or negative.


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